There will be no chicanery in this review about what Companion is about, even if the film spends a minor chunk of time attempting to shroud the obvious in double entendres. This obviousness, shall it not be devised from the opening few minutes, the revealing trailer – or from the title of this review – is that this is a story that features robots; specifically that of subservient sex robots and their misogynist owners.
When Isaac Asimov first fostered his Three Laws of Robotics in 1940 – where a robot can not harm a human being or allow harm to come to them; where a robot must obey human beings without breaking the first law; and the robot must protect its own existence without contravening the first two laws – one could assume that he had only begun to foresee the society that exists in Drew Hancock’s feature debut Companion. A retro-futuristic society of self-driving cars and CD players, one that couples its characters with a sense of endemic loneliness. But with loneliness comes horniness, though, and the advances in modern technology within the world of Companion lend itself nicely to render both loneliness and horniness obsolete.
The film opens with Iris (Sophie Thatcher) having a meet-cute with Josh (Jack Quaid) in a supermarket. Their fingertips touch while reaching for oranges, they have a wee flirty giggle and the two hit it off instantly as a bubblegum pink title card floats into view. Flashing forward to the present story, the two lovebirds are on their way to spend a weekend with friends. They arrive together at a house owned by moustached, gold-chain-wearing Russian bad apple Sergei (Rupert Friend) out in the middle of nowhere, After a few scenes of double speak, obnoxious thematic foreshadowing at a group dinner alongside some sneers from Sergei’s girlfriend, Kat (Megan Siri), the real plot begins to unfold. We quickly discover that Iris is actually a robot created for Josh’s every desire. With boundless affirmation to Josh, a stream of endless sickening love, and working genitalia, Iris is, as the script so delicately puts it, a “f–k bot” named after the Goo Goo Dolls track.
When Iris finds out she is a robot, whose memories and dreams are implants courtesy of her programming, she begins acting in self-preservation to avoid being reset. This involves murder, which contravenes Isaac Asimov’s laws of robotics. The reason as to how Iris is able to do so is one of the funniest gags of the film, with vernacular firmly rooted in contemporary techbro speak. That said, it might be the only time this critic found real amusement in Companion’s dialogue, even if it asks more questions than it cares to answer. Hancock’s all too blunt script gets tangled up in expository explanations, contrivances and conflict resolutions that come easily and conveniently. To the script’s minor credit, there is a neat little misdirection to the Chekhov’s Gun narrative device that registers after the fact rather than neatly predicated.
There have been many stories that highlight misogyny as perfused through a horror/science fiction lens. Alex Garland’s Ex Machina is an immediate comparison point, with robotic sentience occurring at the chagrin of the creator. Companion will no doubt garner comparison to episodes of Black Mirror but both it, and Ex Machina, are nimbler, smarter, more entertaining pieces of media. There are occasions in Companion that find some comic snap, such as how Iris manages to avoid arrest by a sheriff named Hendrix (Marc Menchaca) or a fun flashback meet cute between Eli (Harvey Guillén) and himbo boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage), but this is an uninspired, predictable and stolid affair.
The film is produced by Zach Cregger, director of the 2022-released horror Barbarian. But, comparatively speaking, Companion is a very mild horror film, its thrills shallow and attempts at gore all too rote. This can be symbolised by the first murder committed by Iris, which drenches her in blood only for her to be clean during scenes further on. This a recurring frustration, which seems to want Iris refreshed and sparkly with every new beat. Companion will undoubtedly find life in 20-second clips on social media due to this refresh, while the occasional burst of pedestrian pleasure makes for entertaining vignettes amidst a narrative that has no third gear.
This will also undoubtedly occur due to Thatcher’s performance. Thatcher, excellent in 2024’s Heretic where she held ground against seasoned professional Hugh Grant, really sells her role as docile emotional support robot and frantic escape artist. Thatcher plays the role with remarkable kineticism, her ability to contort her face in response to each new conflict is a menacing delight. In contrast, Quaid is much less of a presence. His misogynistic Good Guy portrayal is competent enough but pastiche that has been seen before. There’s an inferred loss or break up that resulted in his use of a sex robot, but this never gets explored making the characterisation flimsy at best.
Which can be transposed to be a summation of Companion: competent but flimsy. Every attempted twist, every backstab and double cross are merely echoes. Thematically similar films like Blink Twice or Don’t Worry, Darling – films that arguably do not work – have much more visually stimulating ways of putting across its thematic point about men and their use of women as literal objects to command and abuse. Companion is just about saved by Thatcher’s electric performance but it is much too flat, and much too content to achieve tolerability when a film like this should feel much more alive at the seams.
Companion will be in theaters on January 31, 2025.
Learn more about the film, including how to buy tickets, at the website for the title.
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