A not-so-romantic comedy about sexbots, millionaires, and artificial intelligence? Companion is a prescient warning against robotic partners in the hands of extreme narcissists. Drew Hancock's dystopian techno-thriller feels like an ominous threat, given how Silicon Valley dweebs like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are trying to replace humanity with plagiaristic, unstable coding. It's an enjoyable breakup brawler about "good" men with bad intentions but suffers from a formulaic, lower-ceiling execution—it just lacks oomph, is all.
Josh (Jack Quaid) and Iris (Sophie Thatcher) are your garden-variety pookie-pies living their best relationship lives. Iris's attachment to Josh keeps her heart aflutter ever since their supermarket meet-cute. She'll do anything to please Josh—like attend a lakeside vacation with Josh's friends and their significant others. Kat (Megan Suri) is spiteful, Eli (Harvey Guillén) a delight, and Sergey (Rupert Friend)—the wealthy Russian homeowner with a mysterious occupation—is a horndog. None of that prevents Iris from supporting her man, until a dead body exposes the group's darkest secrets.
I'm adding a spoiler warning here because Companion is best seen without preliminary context. The official trailer includes a surprise that's best discovered first-hand, so while what follows is all fair game and in public-facing materials, I still think you're best served going in blind.
If you're still here, suit yourself.
Companion entices on paper. Hancock's story plants a dagger in Cupid's back, whether that's a reality where love can be purchased and pre-programmed, or how Quaid embodies the pathetic "Nice Guy" prototype. As Josh’s revealed rental lovebot— Iris— gains awareness over time and defies her obedience commands, Hancock wrestles with relationships as imprisonment via gaslighting and abuse, while still roasting cheesy rom-com dynamics that fry like damp motherboards. As Josh’s and Iris' facades dissolve, their getaway turns into a battle of wits between a sentient automaton girlfriend and her sad-boy snotrag of a worse half. The film's transformation from rainbows and butterflies to blood-soaked swimwear embraces the darkness of an all-too-close future where algorithms replace genuine connections, pitting scumbag incels against the domesticated lovebots of their fetishistic dreams.
Of course, there's more to the story—by a spoonful. Companion is functionally fine but ambitiously capped. Hancock's ideas soar, yet his execution is a little buggy. The experience is synthetic; Hancock rarely crawls under the surface alarmism of AI breakdowns and the plight of the "unlucky” straight white male. Iris' epiphanies are worth a chuckle but hardly a belly laugh. Josh's devolution into just another manipulative, self-servicing scumbag comes with its nastiness, but it's scarcely anything we haven't seen (Quaid's playing a would-be Homelander sycophant). As the deadly ordeal unfolds, and Iris battles for jailbroken freedom over hardwired submission, Companion is rarely anything more than we presume.
Thatcher and Quaid make the most of their rosy then thorny rivalry. While storytelling may whelm, Iris and Josh are crafted by talented performers. Thatcher's robotic attributes feel genuine—her Siri-esque setup voice and bolt-jointed physical quirks. She's a ray of sunshine dampened by Josh's cruel treatment as Quaid embraces his prolonged villain turn, then a mocking ex with intimate insults. Between Thatcher's bubbly, wide-eyed innocence and Quaid's callous, cold-hearted returns once he's unmasked Josh's Americana misogyny, these are talented performers duking it out until the end. Suri stirs conflict as Iris' judgy enemy, Guillén butters us up with puppy-dog charm, and Lukas Gage is meant to play Guillén’s kitchen-savvy himbo, but this is always the focal duo's show. In that regard, Thatcher and Quaid lead with peril and passion.
Hancock chooses to announce the film's ending through Iris' opening narration, which is the film's biggest mistake. If you've seen the aforementioned trailer, you've seen 90% of Companion. Iris' Wi-Fi-enabled emancipation goes through sensible motions before ending precisely as instructed. There's no grand finale; it's simply a procession of events that meet expectations laid bare upon arrival. There's a Blink Twice undertone to Josh's puppeteering, without the fearlessness and full-tilt aggression. Hancock's television credits on shows like Suburgatory and My Dead Ex translate into something safer, leaving a hickey instead of a bone-deep bite that requires stitches.
Companion is like a comfort meal from your second-favorite restaurant. Your first choice had an hour-long wait, so an old dependable steps in to fill your cravings. In this case, Hancock satiates genre appetites for a "Good for Her" horror comedy while tapping into today's looming artificial intelligence hazards. It'll never blow your socks off; not everything will. A film about pleasure-droid entrapments and assholes in Hallmark protagonist clothing should hit harder, but Companion still lands its cyber-psycho punches.
Movie Score: 3/5
Matt Donato is a Los Angeles-based film critic currently published on SlashFilm, Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, and anywhere else he’s allowed to spread the gospel of Demon Wind. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. Definitely don’t feed him after midnight.
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