We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical body horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim transition from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, blending elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
