Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Sit down with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but inside Together exists a deep meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors bring a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
