Together Can Be Streamed, and It Could Strengthen or Shatter Your Relationship.

Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but inside Together lies a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.

A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities

Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.

The story starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.

A Paranormal Spark

While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.

The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.

Layered Performances

A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.

Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He fears the concept of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.

Shanks’ smartest move in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.

The couple grapple with the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions after ten years. At their core, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.

Thematic Depth

While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.

A Divisive Ending

Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.

Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?

No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.

Together is streaming on Hulu at present.