Here's a dare for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, sure, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He dreads the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
