Companion: Daring to Question Humanity with a Dark Horror Twist

Companion is probably not the movie you’re expecting.

If you haven’t seen the trailer and are completely unfamiliar, you’re in for a wild ride. If you have, well… let’s just say the plot twists are enough to give you whiplash. Written and directed by Drew Hancock, whose surprising history in the entertainment industry as a writer for Nickelodeon’s Fred films and segment director of Jimmy Kimmel Live! doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a curious and surprisingly deep horror film still managed to knock it out of the park with Companion.

Be warned: spoilers to follow.

The premise seems simple enough: Josh (Jack Quaid) and his quirky girlfriend, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), are driving to join their friends at a secluded lakeside retreat for a weekend of revelry, but all is not as it seems. Eager-to-please Iris caters to Josh’s every whim and voices her worries about how she will be received by his friends, particularly Cat (Megan Suri), whose dislike for Iris is clear from the moment she appears on screen. Iris still manages to integrate well with the rest of the crowd though it is clear that she is regarded as different from the others, displaying aspects of nervousness, embarrassment, and jealousy as the evening progresses. It is only the next day when all hell breaks loose.

A quiet moment between Josh and Iris

Keen-eyed viewers will have figured it out before the initial reveal: Iris is not human, but rather an extremely lifelike companion robot owned by Josh. This comes to bear only after she murders Cat’s boyfriend, wealthy Sergey (Rupert Friend), after she rebuffs his advances and he attacks her, clearly intent on sexual assault. 

What follows is panic: how could this have happened? Companion robots are not able to lie, and unable to harm a living being. The other couple in attendance, Patrick (Lukas Gage) and Eli (the incomparable Harvey Guillén) are clearly startled and fearful, though it is soon revealed that the entire weekend had been a plot by Cat and a besotted Josh to murder Sergey, using Iris as the weapon, and attain the fortune stashed in his lake house. Their plan unraveled and with Iris, now aware that she is not human and on the run, chaos consumes those who remain.

This is not your typical killer robot film. Synthetic human characters are so often used as anti-technology symbolism to the point of cliché, but that is not what Hancock has done in this clever, unorthodox, and all in all delightful film. It raises issues of emotion and morality that few of us may have considered as we see a robot expressing love in the only terms it has available, leading to the inevitable questioning of what truly is human, and what is our real relationship to the artificial intelligence we create? Even those employed by the company who build the companion robots seem to struggle with this conundrum. 

What has Josh and Cat so startled?

Beneath even that, Josh’s treatment of Iris will ring startlingly familiar to anyone who has experienced gaslighting, narcissistic manipulation, and domestic violence. Iris is a robot but she has become self-aware; does her inhuman nature make this treatment somehow permissible, or does the growth of a form of life beyond what was programmed provide her more humanity and autonomy than intended? It raises a lot of fascinating questions while providing a humorous and even feminist take on the issues it presents.

The soundtrack, ranging from beautiful scored pieces of music to renditions of popular songs (including a fun and upbeat dance scene to Book of Love’s “Boy”) helps to shape the atmosphere of the film and carry it from lighthearted to far more dire. Everything, from Sergey’s lake house to Iris’ wardrobe is perfectly styled to both appeal to the viewer and shape characterization. Iris’ style — which we see was provided by the company who made her by way of the wardrobe she was delivered with and assumedly chosen by Josh — has an unmistakable 1960s era vibe, echoing back to an almost Stepford Wives ideology. The parallel of Jack Quaid’s unraveling and Sophie Thatcher’s gain in momentum and confidence is truly a sight to see.

Seeing Iris break free from her servitude will make any audience cheer, leaving Companion to feel like a spiritual successor to Jennifer’s Body and the more recent Lisa Frankenstein.

See this film. You will not regret it. Shout-out to AMC’s Scream Unseen program for the early viewing!

Title: Companion (2025)

Director: Drew Hancock

Writer: Drew Hancock

Stars: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid

Rated: R

Trigger warnings for sexual assault and domestic violence

One thought on “Companion: Daring to Question Humanity with a Dark Horror Twist

  • January 29, 2025 at 1:24 pm
    Permalink

    I hadn’t wanted to see this movie. The trailers made it look like we’d be seeing yet another movie about the average woman’s lived experience in a relationship with a masked bad man, with scattered humor to make it a little more digestible to men while women yawn and wonder where the horror is.

    Your write up on Companion has made me interested in seeing the full story this director is telling. Seems like it will be worth the money to see it and buy some popcorn.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.