While it doesn’t share the same writer or director, “Companion” does share the same producers as the 2022 surprise horror hit “Barbarian.” And like that film, it's also a tale best experienced while knowing as little as possible. It’s virtually impossible to discuss “Companion” with any real merit without spoiling its central conceit, so for those just wanting to know its quality: it's a taught, bloody, exceptionally funny dark comedy horror thriller that riffs on romantic comedies to delightful and ridiculously fun results.
The film follows Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets,” “Heretic”), who travels with her boyfriend Josh, played by Jack Quaid (“The Boys,” “Star Trek: Lower Decks”), to a fancy cabin in the woods owned by Sergey, played by Rupert Friend (“Homeland,” “Asteroid City”), the older Russian boyfriend of Josh’s friend Kat, played by Megan Suri (“Never Have I Ever,” “It Lives Inside”). After a night of drinks and partying with everyone, including Josh and Kat’s friend Eli, played by Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows (2019),” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”) and his boyfriend Patrick, played by Lukas Gage (“Smile 2,” “”), Iris realizes a horrifying truth: she isn’t a real person, she’s a companion robot Josh rents to be his girlfriend, full of fictitious memories and feelings for him.
Thatcher anchors the entire film with a performance that, even given her previously stellar work, absolutely excels. She turns Iris into someone you become fully invested in, riding with her throughout her tumultuous adventure. It's a character that just lets her run away with the film and she’s just utterly fantastic. Quaid is also fantastic, continuing to use his “good guy” persona to excellent effect, building up the emotional core of the film while also weaponizing it to terrifying effect. He can balance both halves expertly and is a perfect foible for Thatcher and Iris.
Meanwhile, the rest of the cast is still great, but just don’t get as much meat to dig into as Thatcher or Quaid. Gage is an absolute standout, cementing his place as almost a third lead in the film. His career seems to be slowly morphing into that of a scream king, and he plays it well. Suri and Guillén get to fulfill the typical archetypes of their roles in this kind of genre cinema, but they don’t feel one note though. A huge part of that is the script, the film is written and directed by Drew Hancock (“Suburgatory,” “Blue Mountain State”), which manages to shatter each characters' pre-conceived role in the tale to great dramatic and comedic effect. There are numerous stretches where the film feels like a straight up comedy, with Hancock cranking up the tension exactly when needed.
Composer Hrishikesh Hirway (“Save the Date,” “Everything Sucks!”) gets in on the juxtapositions as well, with a musical score that does fall into the typical tense and horror adjacent strings when needed but otherwise plays into the film’s bright and cheerful rom-com facade. Hancock and his team get great mileage out of a relatively small shooting space, using the lake house and surrounding woods to create a palpable sense of claustrophobia.
Hancock’s experience working on off-kilter sitcoms and directing music videos for the likes of Tenacious D shines through here, as the film somehow never splits from its horror-comedy tone. There are breadcrumbs to piece together through the first act, and even when things turn, it remains an exceptionally funny movie. It's a bit of a magic trick how both of these elements not only work together so well, but never overshadow each other. Given the heavy themes piled throughout, Hancock keeps it highly entertaining. It's the sort of film that’s just a really fun time at the movies, plain and simple. If there is one thing that holds it back, it's the fact that, for all its modern-day urgency and topic-ness, it does feel like yet another “A.I./robot-adjacent horror film” even for as well executed and entertaining as it is.
“Companion” is a ton of fun in just about every way. It really isn’t the film’s fault that it just happens to be coming out in a glut of robot-focused horror or thriller films. After all, in the years going forward, all that will remain is the fact that this is a tightly written and directed film that’s never fails to be funny or tense, sometimes at the same time, and proves to be yet another showcase for the fantastic talents of Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. A connection with this “Companion” is an easy recommendation. 4.5/5
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