Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical body horror, but inside Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
