Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like conventional body horror, but inside Together exists a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
