It’s difficult to write a Companion review or write about the movie without spoiling the turn at the end of Act 1. However, if you’ve seen any of the marketing materials for Companion, trailers, teasers and even posters, you’re probably aware of the “twist.”
It’s actually less of a twist and more of the overall premise of Companion. So, I am going to spoil it because there’s no way to talk about the movie otherwise.
So, if you’d rather go in with no knowledge and get the full surprise; stop reading now and come back later. If you already know the twist or you don’t mind a bit of spoilage, read on.
Companion Review
Companion tells the story of a group of friends who gather at a lakehouse for a weekend getaway. It sets itself up in pretty typical horror/thriller fashion. Some young, attractive people are isolated and alone for the weekend; we know chaos is going to ensue. Josh (Jack Quaid) and Iris (Sophie Thatcher) are a young couple in love and we know just how much from the dreamy opening scene showing their meet cute.
Iris spied Josh in the grocery store. They got to chatting. Josh knocked over a pile of oranges and sparks flew immediately. They knew they were meant for each other. On arrival at the lakehouse, Iris is nervous as she senses Josh’s friends, especially Kat (Megan Suri) are not fans of her. Josh reassures her, but the tension is obvious and palpable.
After meeting the remainder of the friend group, couple Eli (Harvey Guillén) and Patrick (Lukas Gage) and the home’s owner Sergey (Rupert Friend) a night of drinking and partying ensues. Kat’s disdain for Iris is clear and present, while Sergey is creepily interested in her. Josh brushes Iris’ concerns aside and implores her to have a good time. The following day, while Josh is hungover, Iris makes her way down to the lake and meets Sergey who is even more overtly creepy than before.
He comes onto her and tells her that Kat said it would be ok. Iris is panicked and fears for her life, only managing to survive the assault by stabbing Sergey in the neck with a pocket knife found in her pocket. When she reappears at the house she is shocked and terrified and covered in blood. As her panic rises, Josh tells her to “Go to sleep” and Iris powers down…
It’s here that we learn the twist and overall concept of the film. Set in the near future, companion robots have become commonplace and Iris is Josh’s Companion. The story of their meeting? Just one of many options Josh selected from a drop-down menu. Her personality, looks, eye colour, and intelligence are all controlled by an app on Josh’s phone. In essence, she is his slave robot…who fucks.
This revelation leaves Iris shocked and distraught but is also revealed to be part of Josh and Kat’s plan to have Iris murder Sergey so they can steal millions in cash from his hidden safe. From here, Companion becomes a cat-and-mouse game as Iris attempts to escape and the others try to track her down to remove all traces of the mods they installed to enable her to kill and erase her memory.
Companion boils down to a story of relationships, control, manipulation and gaslighting. It ponders questions of equality in a partnership while questioning just what it means to be human. Iris has the appearance of a real person, so is she one? Companion is content to leave these big questions in the air and focus instead on thrills and action. It’s as if Ex Machina did away with any existential musings and dealt exclusively with Ava getting revenge.
While I found the whole of Companion compelling and a genuine thrill, it never quite reaches the same heights it does during its opening Act. The reveal of Iris as a robot and Josh’s use of her in his plot genuinely ramps up in a brilliantly tense and chilling way. Everything after Act 1 is still a hell of a ride, it doesn’t quite capture the same spark. That being said, Companion is immensely watchable, due in no small part to its great cast, especially Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher.
Quad is amazing at showing Josh’s two sides. Early on, he’s the sensitive, caring “nice guy”. He says and does all the right things, but there’s something about him that’s not quite right. Once the facade falls, it’s easy to see him for the douchey, alpha male wannabe he really is. During a scene late in the run time, Josh explains to Iris how he deserves so much more and how hard life is for people like him; straight, white men. It’s not subtle, but it is effective as Companion truly puts its villain on display.
Meanwhile, Sophie Thatcher, coming off Heretic, is just perfect as Iris. The physicality of her performance is something to behold. The way she walks and move is robotic and slightly unnatural and her innocent, wide-eyed love for Josh feels incredibly genuine. As the scales fall from her eyes and she realises who and what she is and the same of Josh, it’s like watching a new person come into being. Companion is Thatcher’s movie and she owns it brilliantly with the supporting cast all delivering their very best.
Companion is a thrilling, nail-biting, jaw-dropping experience, start to finish. It delivers on the premise and then some and while it eschews offering answers to the questions it poses, it still leaves you with an indelible sense of the ideas it explores.
For an early release in 2025 it’s an incredibly strong one and likely the first in a long series of films casting “nice guys” as the villain.
Despite being billed as a horror film, Companion, fits more neatly in the action-thriller camp and although it can fill you with full-throated anxiety, it’s not likely to scare you or leave you looking over your shoulder. It will unsettle you and make you question gender politics and relationship dynamics which can be just as scary though.
Companion is a triumph and genre fans will love this movie.
Leo Stevenson attended a screening of Companion as a guest.
