Travel remains one of life’s luxuries where, for a few hours whilst in the air, passengers are encouraged to switch off from outside distractions and disconnect those online connections. Therefore to be a designated ‘travel companion’ to receive free flights, on standby, is a perk that few are unlikely to wish to relinquish. As such, it is understandable when Simon (Tristan Turner), a documentary filmmaker, with a project in a new film festival, wishes to lock down his ongoing status as a free flight recipient as the travel companion to his best friend Bruce, (Anthony Oberbeck) an airline worker. The Travel Companion is an enjoyably light but one note tale that follows their frat boy style bromance as Simon attempts to maintain the status quo despite Bruce developing a love interest. All of which threatens to de-rail their best laid travel plans and comfortable roommate dynamics.
As a commentary on friendship, The Travel Companion seems fairly lacklustre. There are scenes with Simon and Bruce working out together, sitting on the brownstone stoop with toilet paper purchases and having beers together whilst putting the world to rights – it’s a case of been there, done that. Simon seems more invested in the friendship, particularly to ensure that his coveted travel companion status remains intact but as the film progresses, Bruce seems weary with the repetitive direction of the storyline. However, Simon continues requesting that travel reassurance – he rapidly adopts a needy persona and feels left behind! Frankly, these are characters in their 30s behaving in those juvenile ways, without any comic relief!
Yet, there is no plausible threat to Simon posed by Beatrice (Naomi Asa), whom Bruce starts to date, to justify Simon’s paranoia. She is just present in some scenes as a plus one, but does not inject any enthusiasm to prevent Simon and Bruce from spending time together. Those thoughts of ‘three’s a crowd’ appear to be solely from Simon’s point of view with him seemingly projecting those insecurities. Directors Travis Wood and Alex Wallis explore those subtle changes to the roommates’ routine at a languid pace as there are no dramatic shifts occurring.
However, Beatrice’s introduction in to Bruce’s life was due to Simon’s filmmaker status. During a film festival, both Simon and Beatrice appeared on a panel but, humorously, by the time a microphone appeared for Simon to present his film, the Q&A section had frustratingly concluded! Simon and Beatrice are pitted against each other, from a careers perspective, as Beatrice is more accomplished and can arrange for a street to shut down for her filming of a commercial! Whereas Simon is still to decide the direction for his obscure documentary and therefore relies on those free flights to visit various filming locations.
The mise-en-abyme film scenes are where The Travel Companion stands out. The focus on the filmmaking elements are endearing with insights to differing techniques when Beatrice and Simon are cajoled into undertaking a random film session. Their technical passion is palpable, poetic and informative, when discussing different formats. In those moments, Turner produces a sympathetic portrayal as a filmmaker struggling to combat an oppressive system as he strives for small opportunities for his film to be made. As the film featured in the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and is inspired by true life events for one of the directors, there is an added personal layer that will no doubt resonate.
A love of travel permeates The Travel Companion, there are many airplanes taking flight with their colourful tail designs to guess for those airplane spotters, plus a love of New York with various neighbourhoods and their everyday aesthetics proudly featuring. As a feature film debut, those elements capture the bohemian spirit reminiscent of the cool vibe from season 1 of MTV’s The Real World series and that soulful vibe from the 90s film Love Jones.
Yet, there are too many, awkward, flat moments where some performances do not carry the same weight as Turner’s and therefore fail to engage audiences. Besides, some of the crude filming techniques with jerky zoom control add to the unease and overall uneven tone.
The Travel Companion works best as a travel diary and exploration of a filmmaker’s inspiration for a day of filming. Turner does his best with the material given, producing a soulful performance, but the film disappointingly refuses to offer any new perspectives within a similar frat boy genre.
The Travel Companion is now in limited theaters.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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