We present a test for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like standard biological terror, but within Together resides a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple face the type of challenges that arise in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
