Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like typical body horror, but beneath Together exists a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, blending moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. On the other hand, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
