We present a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard physical horror, but within Together exists a profound meditation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
