We present a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional body horror, but inside Together lies a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Married in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for 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 supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
