Companion
Director: Drew Hancock
Writer: Drew Hancock
Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, Rupert Friend, Jaboukie Young-White, Matt McCarthy
Seen on: 8.2.2025

Content Note: sexualized violence, (critical treatment of) misogyny

Plot:
Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) are on their way to a weekend with Josh’s friends. Iris is nervous because she feels like Josh’s friends don’t really like her. But they are very much in love, and Iris is willing to jump over her own shadow for Josh. But that’s the least of their problem when their host Sergey (Rupert Friend) tries to force himself on Iris – and ends up dead instead.

Companion has an interesting concept that gives it plenty of possibilities to comment on the misogyny – and general misanthropy – that runs through the techbro AI sphere and our society as a whole. Unfortunately it doesn’t make enough use of those possibilities and falls a little short even if it is entertaining enough.

Look, I’m definitely here for feminist horror movies, but they are probably best handled by people who have an in-depth knowledge of feminist theory. With this film I got the distinct sense that Hancock has read some good online articles and a few pithy tweets, but I don’t think that his expertise goes any deeper than that. Or if it does, he can’t really translate it to the screen.

And I don’t mean that the film lacks seriousness (you can be feminist and funny at the same time) or that it is too entertaining (again, you can be feminist and entertaining at once), just that it often goes for the covenient answers instead of really thinking through the implications of the world it created. Maybe he never meant to do that, but then it feels like a missed opportunity.

That being said, the film does have some good qualities, the spoiler that is the movie poster notwithstanding. Thatcher is excellent, and with her excellent performance, Hancock often captures the creepiness and outright horror oft her situation – a horror that will familiar to many women, albeit not being in quite the same dependent relationship as Iris.

There are some good jokes and some good kills. There is also a certain emotional gravity when the film needs it. In short, it all works pretty well, despite a couple of lengths. I was just hoping for a little more – the film could have carried it easily.

Summarzing: fun, albeit a little lightweight.