Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard body horror, but beneath Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the country for her career. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two discover an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
