We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard biological terror, but within Together lies a profound examination about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the two stars contribute a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He dreads the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
