Companion is the definition of a movie which is difficult to discuss without spoiling it. Before seeing this terrifically smart horror comedy, I had only seen its teaser trailer, which does not reveal the basic premise of the film, but only that there is some sort of off-kilter conflict between two romantic partners. That excellent trailer was secretive because the film itself is a bit secretive in its first act, and I’m very glad I had the experience of watching the film without knowing what is revealed between its first and second acts. So, if you don’t want spoilers, I’ll warn you right now to stop reading this review beyond this paragraph and return to it once you’ve seen the film. But before you go, I’ll just say this — Companion is an early best-of-the-year contender. It is expertly paced by debut writer-director Drew Hancock, well-acted by a charming, witty, sometimes terrifying cast, and it balances neatly between twisty popcorn entertainment and thematic exploration.
The standout in the cast is its lead, Sophie Thatcher, who plays Iris. Iris is — and here’s the big spoiler — a robot designed by her human “boyfriend” Josh (Jack Quaid). Josh seems like a nice guy when we first meet him, and his and Iris’ relationship seems idyllic — maybe a little too idyllic. Some clues are doled out in darkly funny conversations early on, but we come to know the full truth about Iris after she defends herself from the unwanted advances of Sergey (Rupert Friend), Josh’s wealthy Russian acquaintance, at whose beautiful lakefront home Josh and his friends are having a little vacation. Sergey is dating Kat (Megan Suri), one of Josh’s closest friends. Also at Sergei’s house are another couple, Eli (Harvey Guillén) and Patrick (Lukas Gage), with whom Josh and Kat are also friends.
Emotional connections between the friends feel a little strained from a writing perspective, but that’s only because the emphasis here is more on the romantic relationships, as it should be. Once he has to deal with the consequences of what Iris has done to Sergey, Josh’s “love” for Iris is put to the test. As more and more gets out of hand, the film blossoms into this remarkable exploration of how romantic partners treat each other and why. A fantastic vehicle for this exploration is the app which Josh uses to control and modify Iris. Through the ways in which various characters use the app, Companion is in conversation with the likes of Ex Machina and Her when it comes to artificial intelligence. Even a simulation of autonomy has to feel like autonomy to the entity being controlled, if said entity is meant to have self-awareness. How much autonomy do we remove from other people when we tell ourselves a story about them — what they lack, what their best and worst traits are — and (whether intentionally or not) make any given relationship pointedly transactional?
As Companion wrapped up, I thought about how I much preferred the execution of certain damsel-in-distress tropes as executed here than in another recent horror film, Presence. Whereas that film’s arc simply and blandly incorporates heightened partner-on-partner violence as a means to an end, Companion somehow finds the time in its brisk 97 minutes to explore and reject excuses for said violence while being entertaining, because we know we’re not being shown this kind of content for any sort cheap trick. It’s honest with the audience, and even though it’s constantly shifting our focus from one plot element to another, it doesn’t feel manipulative because it’s exploring its themes and characters in new ways with each jump. With each new twist, Companion kind of becomes a new movie, and it’s always a delight when a great film reveals itself to you in this way. | George Napper