"Companion" Film Review: A Thought-Provoking Exploration of AI and Human Relationships

Companion review: This sleek but violent film asks interesting ethical questions about our relationship with AI

Science fiction film and television has long been fascinated by robots. But stories that show us uncannily human cyborgs have often tended to veer towards either comedy or horror. Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927) and Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" (1982) both imagine a world where beautiful female cyborgs threaten to overstep their original programming. Rarer are stories that suggest it might be possible to love a cyborg, such as Susan Seidelman's underseen romantic comedy, "Making Mr. Right" (1987). "Companion" picks up where Alex Garland's Ex Machina (2014) leaves off. Ex Machina was about a young man tasked with testing the artificial intelligence (AI) of a female robot. "Companion," however, posits a world where synthetic humans have become common. The plot of "Companion" also owes much to the themes of rivalry and revenge present in Karyn Kusama's horror films Jennifer's Body (2009) and The Invitation (2022), as well as the TV show Battlestar Galactica's (2004 to 2009) imagining of full cyborg autonomy. "Companion" is a particularly post-Black Mirror (2011) example of science fiction. With its glossy aesthetics, and ubiquitously friction-less technology, it's a vision of a future where AI and advanced robotics have made our lives easier. But, in typical Black Mirror fashion, this parable offers a warning. We meet Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) as they head to a chic, modern lake house for a weekend with friends. At this point, our only real indication that this is science fiction is the fact that the GPS in Josh's car is a bit better than usual. At first, Iris seems like yet another incarnation of the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" archetype -- quirky and kittenish, but too bland to really be a protagonist. It is only Thatcher's subtle physical performance that lets us question whether Iris is entirely human. Besotted with Josh and anxious to please, Iris seems like just another girl who has wished for her prince to come and been rewarded with a supermarket meet cute. What makes "Companion" unsettling is not so much its depiction of cyborgs but rather its portrayal of misogyny. Survivors of intimate partner violence will recognize Josh, particularly his ironclad belief that he is a "a nice guy" who is entitled to an attractive partner who places his needs above all else. For some audiences, "Companion" may not feel firmly rooted enough in either science fiction or horror. But then, it's really only a horror film if you too are kept awake at night by the thought that some people really want a sex robot with customizable intelligence levels (Josh keeps Iris's at 40%). Thatcher's performance as Iris is fascinatingly glitchy. There is something about her walk -- a precision that isn't quite human. She stands with a stillness that reminds us she is more object than woman. There is a grimace she makes that conveys how she finds it troubling to process veiled commands from a man who isn't her partner. It represents a feeling female viewers may have had before, when the social programming that tells women to be nice smacks up against their fight or flight response. Iris is a sex robot designed with charming slightly buck teeth -- a flaw to offset her pore-less skin. The goal is to prevent her from falling into to the uncanny valley (that discomfited feeling when you encounter an object that is a little too life-like) and make her seem more real. Some people argue that you should only have sex with a robot if you think that robot would want to have sex with you. But most science fiction doesn't really go that way -- from "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) to "Black Mirror," most cyborg figures are programmed to consent without question. "Companion" shows us Iris's point of view as Josh looms over her during sex. Afterwards, her romance-trope laden chatter is shut down by his command that she go to sleep. "Companion" contains aspects of both comedy and horror. But like the best science fiction, it's central warning is against those who believe that technology can offer them absolute control.

Companion review: this sleek but violent film asks interesting ethical questions about our relationship with AI

Science fiction film and television has long been fascinated by robots. But stories that show us uncannily human cyborgs have often tended to veer towards either comedy or horror. Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) both imagine a world where beautiful female cyborgs threaten to overstep their original programming. Rarer are stories that suggest it might be possible to love a cyborg, such as Susan Seidelman's underseen romantic comedy, Making Mr. Right (1987). Companion picks up where Alex Garland's Ex Machina (2014) leaves off. Ex Machina was about a young man tasked with testing the artificial intelligence (AI) of a female robot. Companion, however, posits a world where synthetic humans have become common. Companion's plot also owes much to the themes of rivalry and revenge present in Karyn Kusama's horror films Jennifer's Body (2009) and The Invitation (2022), as well as the TV show Battlestar Galactica's (2004 to 2009) imagining of full cyborg autonomy. Companion is a particularly post-Black Mirror (2011) example of science fiction. With its glossy aesthetics, and ubiquitously friction-less technology, it's a vision of a future where AI and advanced robotics have made our lives easier. But, in typical Black Mirror fashion, this parable offers a warning. Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here. We meet Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) as they head to a chic, modern lake house for a weekend with friends. At this point, our only real indication that this is science fiction is the fact that the GPS in Josh's car is a bit better than usual. At first, Iris seems like yet another incarnation of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl - quirky and kittenish, but too bland to really be a protagonist. It is only Thatcher's subtle physical performance that lets us question whether Iris is entirely human. Besotted with Josh and anxious to please, Iris seems like just another girl who has wished for her prince to come and been rewarded with a supermarket meet cute. What makes Companion unsettling is not so much its depiction of cyborgs but rather its portrayal of misogyny. Survivors of intimate partner violence will recognise Josh. Particularly his ironclad belief that he is a "a nice guy" who is entitled to an attractive partner who places his needs above all else. For some audiences, Companion may not feel firmly rooted enough in either science fiction or horror. But then, it's really only a horror film if you too are kept awake at night by the thought that some people really want a sex robot with customisable intelligence levels (Josh keeps Iris's at 40%). Thatcher's performance as Iris is fascinatingly glitchy. There is something about her walk - a precision that isn't quite human. She stands with a stillness that reminds us she is more object than woman. There is a grimace she makes that conveys how she finds it troubling to process veiled commands from a man who isn't her partner. It represents a feeling female viewers may have had before, when the social programming that tells women to be nice smacks up against their fight or flight response. Iris is a sex robot designed with charming slightly buck teeth - a flaw to offset her pore-less skin. The goal is to prevent her from falling into to the uncanny valley (that discomfited feeling when you encounter an object that is a little too life-like) and make her seem more real. Some people argue that you should only have sex with a robot if you think that robot would want to have sex with you. But most science fiction doesn't really go that way - from Bride of Frankenstein (1935) to Black Mirror, most cyborg figures are programmed to consent without question. Companion shows us Iris's point of view as Josh looms over her during sex. Afterwards, her romance-trope laden chatter is shut down by his command that she go to sleep. Companion contains aspects of both comedy and horror. But like the best science fiction, it's central warning is against those who believe that technology can offer them absolute control.

Companion film review -- sex-bot turns on male owner in visceral comedy

Ingénue of the moment Sophie Thatcher, recently of Heretic, stars as a robot designed to provide a girlfriend experience in this tonally jumpy mix of horror, comedy and social commentary. Sex-bot Iris's on-demand subservience -- with her inbuilt intelligence dialled down to an unthreatening 40 per cent -- echoes that of the 1970s Stepford wives. This time round, however, her role is not so much an observation on the status of women as it is an X-ray exposure of her male owner's dark side. Josh's cute smile masks a roiling storm of male supremacism that Iris is programmed to suit. We join them on a weekend break at a secluded lakeside lodge, the property of Russian billionaire Sergey (Rupert Friend). The guest list includes his scheming girlfriend Kat (Megan Suri), Josh and Iris and the cuddly Eli (Harvey Guillén), whose boyfriend is the suspiciously perfect Patrick (Lukas Gage). Josh is harbouring a nefarious plan -- poorly conceived, of course, coming from his soggy human brain -- that involves reprogramming Iris as a controlled weapon. What he doesn't realise is that, like the replicants in Blade Runner, she has more emergent feelings than are proper to a robot. Mostly, she wants to be free. With her hitherto erased aggression dialled up to 11, her intelligence restored and a knife in her pocket, Iris starts her rampage towards release. A robot that turns against its puny human controller is hardly a new idea, but the current anxiety around AI obviously gives Companion topical punch. Otherwise, it veers between the comic and visceral. The colours are Barbie-bright, right down to the pink title sequence; writer-director Drew Hancock is similarly aiming to give us sexual politics in a popcorn box, but with added stage blood. Thatcher is fine, her tiny frame and bee-stung lips a credible bot template, but Friend's Sergey is more fun: with his mullet, loose satin dressing gown and bachelor's pad, he has a 1970s caddishness that, from the distance of 2025, is a bit of a hoot.

A Horror Movie That Already Gave Away Its Twist

The new film Companion works best if you manage to stay unaware of its twisty premise -- except that may be hard to do, as its marketing campaign up and reveals it. If you are able to heed my warning, however -- and you want to enjoy some diverting, silly, and slightly gory horror fare -- just buy a movie ticket; don't even look at the poster. Otherwise, know that the first big surprise is one of several to come in the director Drew Hancock's debut feature. With my promise not to kill all the remaining curiosity, you can safely proceed here. Companion is set during a weekend getaway at a lakeside cabin. Josh (played by Jack Quaid) introduces his new girlfriend, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), to his closest pals. Here is the spoiler: Turns out, Iris is a robot. She's an "emotional support" robot, Josh explains -- his fully functional, artificial girlfriend, who's designed to love and obey him in the bedroom and elsewhere. (Josh disdains the seemingly accurate phrase fuckbot.) This is the film's underlying premise, recalling an installment of Black Mirror writ a little bit larger; it's extrapolating the near-future promise and nightmare of advancing AI to imagine a world where virtual partners are progressively becoming the norm. Iris is less a Stepford wife than a really grown-up chatbot, a way for a shallow man-child like Josh to imitate connection without making any real effort. Read: In this horror movie, you can look but not touch The commentary is spiky, if obvious. Quaid has gotten good at playing a fake-feminist dork: seemingly funny and well-meaning, his charm a thin veneer for a lot of seething, nerdy resentment (his work in Scream is another fine example). Thatcher conveys Iris's innocence quite sweetly; she's very concerned about impressing Josh's friends, a desire that's simultaneously sympathetic and chilling when the viewer learns that satisfying others is part of her core programming. It soon appears that there are all kinds of perverse avenues Companion could go down in portraying Iris and Josh's splintering relationship, especially as Josh and Iris start to interact with everyone else hanging at this lake house. Someday, perhaps someone will make the definitive sex comedy for the incel age. But Companion is fundamentally not a satire. In fact, it's not even properly a horror movie, despite its creepy branding and its midwinter release date (a classic dumping ground for cheap-and-cheerful shock-fests from bigger studios). The film instead evolves into a lurid knockoff of an early Coen-brothers work, something like Blood Simple with tablets. It's the type of plot that ends in deceit, bloody murder, and further revelations about the cast of nincompoops around Josh and Iris. As a propellant for the story and its 97-minute runtime, switching from a sci-fi-tinged chiller to a crime caper makes sense; the genre advances Companion past its novella premise into something more robust. The accompanying shift in focus -- away from Josh and Iris's relationship and toward the former's true motivation for acquiring the robot -- also gives space for another one of the weekenders (played by Lukas Gage) to have some fun toying with a secret of his own. But it ends up flattening the chances of Companion ever getting as creepy or weird as its conceit suggests it could be. A producer on the film, Zach Cregger, previously directed the sneaky, unexpected 2022 smash Barbarian, which similarly wrapped some commentary in with its scares. It was a truly unsettling work, one that played with modern foibles of masculinity in a challenging and grotesque way. Companion, meanwhile, quickly makes clear what a dingus Josh is; the film seems uninterested in deeper character study, instead just generating turns aplenty to keep up the momentum. Hints at his latent sadism come very late in the game, but Companion ties up much of Josh's villainy in the duplicitous scheme that emerges; I'd have far preferred it probing the potentially wild ways that his robo-relationship has atrophied his empathy. Read: You can't truly be friends with an AI Thatcher is left to do the film's most interesting work -- perhaps unsurprisingly, to those familiar with the actor's growing list of credits. A trick of the story is that Josh can adjust Iris's intelligence with a smartphone-app-enabled slider; though Iris is programmed to feel absolute loyalty to her partner, her behavior is otherwise tweakable with a few taps. Thatcher gets to explore a few different directions for Iris over the course of Companion, including numbing dullness, canny super-expertise, and steely aggression on par with the Terminator. She's more than up to the challenge; I haven't seen her starring turn on Yellowjackets, but between this and her fine performance in last year's Heretic, Thatcher has clearly got elevated scream-queen chops that go beyond appearing effectively frightened on-screen. She shifts among each of Iris's emotional modes -- alarmed, confused, cheerfully blank -- with aplomb. I just kept finding myself wanting a little more freaky zest and a little less speculative-fiction-style plottiness. The back half of Companion gets more deeply into the rules of these robots' operating systems as it tries developing the cat-and-mouse game that arises between Josh and Iris. Although expanding the lore was probably unavoidable, it also feels like a mistake -- more answers only raise more questions about these artificial life forms, which seem to be close to fully autonomous but for a couple of safety toggles on an app. The resolution to every narrative gap amounts to the characters themselves being inept or ill-informed, a Coen brothers' specialty that Quaid does his best to imitate. His progressively growing ignorance makes it harder and harder to find Josh very scary, however, as the film ramps up into more graphic violence. Companion is at best a mean little confection, no matter how much you know going into it: amusing, occasionally thrilling, but not something with the capability to linger.

Is she real?

Early in Companion, lovely Iris and her nerdy-nice boyfriend Josh are driving to a secluded lake house for a stay with friends. Iris wakes from a nap and lovingly tells Josh she was dreaming about him. They reminisce about how they first met at the supermarket. All those oranges tumbling onto the floor! Ha ha. In 20 minutes, absolutely everything about this sweet scene will be turned on its head in a terrifying and sinister manner. You will be surprised and shocked. Unless you saw the trailer, which reveals the whole thing. And so we begin with a dilemma, dear moviegoer. Companion, an exceedingly clever and entertaining sci-fi-horror-thriller-comedy by Drew Hancock in his feature debut, has more twists and turns than a corkscrew. But it's utterly impossible to write about the film without revealing the first of those twists. So if you like coming in totally cold to a movie, then we're sorry to see you go, but stop reading! Otherwise, stay with us - we promise there'll be more surprises to come. Moving on: Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) arrive at the estate. A nervous Iris stops at the door, worried that Josh's friends won't like her. He urges her to simply brighten up and act happy. Kat (Megan Suri), Josh's ex, greets them. She is gorgeous, and frosty to Iris. Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his handsome boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage) are nicer. Then there's Sergey (Rupert Friend), Kat's aloof Russian boyfriend and owner of the house. The password to his devices is Stalin's birthday, which tells you something. Things get dark, quickly. The next morning, someone dies. They will not be the first - this is a horror movie. And suddenly Iris, caked in blood, finds out what everyone else knows about her, but she did not: She's a robot. A custom "companion" programmed by Josh to be as docile as he wants. He can even control the level of her intelligence. Iris doesn't understand. "I feel things," she protests. Just the programming, Josh replies. Her tears? They come from a refillable reservoir in her body. But she has memories, she said - like when they met! Oh, that scenario was chosen from a drop-down menu, she's told. But now that we're all on the same page, the action can really begin. For reasons we won't detail here, Iris ends up on the run. What are the odds of a bot escaping her pre-programmed limitations? Suffice it to say that whatever you expect to happen, does not. The supporting cast is excellent - especially Gage, as a Patrick chock full of surprises - but the leads are especially well cast. Thatcher manages to be, while, like, not actually human, way more relatable than the actual humans. And she's able to convey subtle changes in programming, too - like becoming 60 per cent more intelligent, a neat trick. And Quaid, with his full-cheeked Quaid-ian good looks, is an ideal choice for a "nice guy" who grows more odious by the minute. One of his lower points comes when he explains to Iris how the world seems to be "rigged against people like me". "I don't even own you," he railed - "you're a rental! I deserve so much more than this." Hancock is obviously exploring the fertile area of artificial intelligence (AI) - the movie is set in a "not-too-distant future" where bots are an acceptable relationship choice and cars drive themselves, but most everything else looks the same. Like it could be us, just a few years from now. Yikes. The irony, though, is that it's not the cool futuristic flourishes but good old-fashioned human intelligence that makes the movie work. The humour and tone could have go so wrong, but they didn't. Kudos to Hancock for making the film crackle along wittily, drawing in even those of us prone to shudder at movies with a fast-rising body count. - Jocelyn Noveck

How Companion's Twist Imagines a New Place for AI in Horror

Artificial intelligence may feel like a more immediate threat than ever given its increasingly rapid development and potential for rampant misuse. Then again, what's scarier: the technology itself or the humans who are willing to use it for any means, all morals aside? Companion, the big-screen debut from writer-director Drew Hancock (My Dead Ex, Suburgatory), is more of a darkly funny romp than a so-called "thinking" movie, but it offers up some timely commentary on the seemingly inevitable role that toxic masculinity would play in the advent of what the film alternately refers to as "emotional support robots" and "f-ck-bots." The horror-comedy, now in theaters, has been touted as one of those movies where the less you know going in, the better. But, in addition to the fact that its final trailer gave the game away, the film's big reveal happens less than 30 minutes in (and not without a number of less-than-subtle hints before that). Companion opens with a flashback in which Iris (Yellowjackets' Sophie Thatcher) recalls her exceedingly cliché grocery store meet-cute with her beloved boyfriend Josh (The Boys' Jack Quaid) while delivering a voiceover that succinctly sets the scene for what's to come: "The two happiest moments in my life were the day I met Josh...and the day I killed him." The story then jumps to somewhere in between those two milestones, as the couple heads to a secluded lake house for a weekend away with Josh's pals. There's his close friend Kat (Megan Suri) and her shady Russian sugar daddy Sergey (Rupert Friend), the owner of the property, as well as Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage). Iris is nervous because she doesn't think the group particularly likes her, especially the openly-hostile Kat. "You make me feel replaceable," Kat confesses to her that first night. This admission, in addition to some other instances of bizarre behavior, takes on a whole new meaning when the events of the next morning culminate in Iris killing an aggressively handsy Sergey after he tries to take advantage of her down by the lake. Once a blood-drenched Iris returns to the house and begins to break down in a fit of hysterics, Josh quickly orders her to "go to sleep!" When he wakes her, the jig is up, as he explains to her that she's not actually a real human, but rather a robot manufactured by a company called Empathix to be his perfectly subservient romantic companion. Any memories she has of the early days of their relationship are fake and Josh has customized her to his liking through an app on his phone, curating her settings for intelligence, personality, eye color, and more. Oh, and thanks to Empathix's standard protocols, she can't lie. Basically, she's programmed to provide all the perks of a human girlfriend without any pesky wants, needs, or free will of her own. That is, until Josh reveals that he jail-broke the Empathix app in order to crank up Iris' survival instincts and capacity for violence before goading her into offing Sergey as part of his and Kat's plan to make off with Sergey's money. Eventually, Iris gets her hands on Josh's phone and gains access to her own settings, giving her an opportunity to outsmart her human captors. "This is a robot movie, but it's not like any other robot movie that's out right now. It's not AI gone wrong, it's AI gone right," Hancock told Entertainment Weekly. "It's a movie about self-discovery and, at its core, is a breakup movie about this woman finding empowerment through discovery of self." From Her to Ex Machina to Westworld, there have been a number of near-future sci-fi offerings dealing in the perils of romantic involvement with AI -- a real phenomenon which is only bound to increase, even if for now it takes more of an emotional than physical form. The aforementioned films and TV show all treat their bots with some degree of sympathy, casting humankind as either unevolved to a certain extent, or intentioanlly callous and cruel. They also mostly center on artificial entities with female attributes becoming a male human's object of affection. But this time around, Hancock seems to be taking a clear shot at the current rise of incel culture by casting android Iris in the sympathetic light of a "good for her" final girl who's well within her rights to violently fight back against Josh and his entitled "nice guys finish last" shtick. As Quaid has said of Josh, he's "a real sh-thead." "A lesser movie would've probably made my character the protagonist and Iris the antagonist who's going crazy, and Josh has to save the day," he told EW. "But I love how this movie is the slightly more realistic version where Josh is doing all of this for very selfish reasons. I love how the character with the most humanity is the robot in this story." In the end, Josh's true hateful nature has been laid bare to the point that even a woman who's programmed to love him no matter what can't stand him. Now that's saying something.

Review: 'Companion' fiendishly funny romcom scarefest is a wickedly decadent treat

This surprise movie firecracker sparked up seemingly out of nowhere. Sometimes a surprise movie firecracker sparks up in theaters seemingly out of nowhere. Have you heard about "Companion?" Me either. But that doesn't make this fiendishly funny romcom scarefest any less a wickedly decadent treat. Warning: To avoid spoilers -- even though the first twist is given away fast and is right there in the trailer -- stop reading this very second. Ready? OK, here we go. You'll think you're watching "The Notebook" when Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) meet super cute in a supermarket. She accepts his invite for a romantic lake house getaway. Do scream queens learn nothing from horror movies? Though Iris doesn't know it yet, she is Josh's robot companion. That means he operates her controls from his cell phone in "Stepford Wives" fashion until she figures out his game and sets her intelligence level from 40 percent, where Josh has it, to full-on Brainiac. The quips fly mad fast and furious. Foreboding slithers in when we hear Iris tells us in voiceover, "There've been two moments in my life when I was happiest. The first was the day I met Josh. And the second was the day I killed him." Kidding? Not kidding? Figuring that out is part of the frisky fun of this teasing puzzle written by mega-promising first-time director Drew Hancock. The plot kicks in hard at the remote lake house owned by creepy Russian powerbroker Sergey (Brit actor Rupert Friend laying on a menacing Russian accent) who's sleeping with Josh's friend Kat (Megan Suri) who's brought along Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his lover Patrick (Lukas Gage). Nothing is what it seems. There's a lot of money in Sergey's safe, a fact not missed by Josh and Kat. Suri, from "It Lives Inside," turns Kat into a manipulator par excellence. And Quaid, the son of actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan and fabulous on "The Boys," raises her one by giving Josh a crooked smile that can turn on a dime from sweet to sinister. The actors all come up aces and each has a secret agenda too clever to give away. Still, the best in this trickster funhouse is Thatcher. You probably know her onscreen being tortured by Hugh Grant in "Heretic" or on TV as the young version of the Juliette Lewis character in "Yellowjackets." But she's on fire here as a sexbot with a killer instinct and a mind of her own. And just when you think "Companion" has run out of curveballs, you realize it's only just getting started. I wouldn't reveal the next turn of events with a gun to my head, except to say that Hancock and his terrific cast are sending up every variety of control we're all guilty of bringing into relationships, though few I hope as deadly as what transpires here. As a filmmaker, Hancock is asking us what defines humanity or lack of same. His method is tongue-in-cheek, but his intent is as serious as the social issues of misogyny and toxic masculinity he so delights in skewering. However you think "Companion" turns out, you'll be wrong. Hancock has a worthy aversion to the cliché playbook. He makes us less concerned about artificial intelligence than the humans who blithely misuse it. Hancock is onto something about what fuels our current social anxiety, which makes "Companion" one of the most potent provocations of this young movie year.