We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together exists a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars contribute a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when the couple transition from the big city to the countryside for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the cliches end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple face the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
