Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
