Film Review: Companion

Spoilers!

If you’re the type of person who bullies or otherwise abuses someone who can’t defend themselves — animals, children, older adults — then you’re particularly loathsome. A “someone” who would necessarily fit into that category is a robot, even if they are “programmed” instead of conscious in the way a human is and carbon fiber instead of skin. In other words, in addition to the harm done to the animal, person, or robot, enacting such harm is a reflection of you as a person, your low morality and high-propensity for rage and violence. Drew Hancock’s 2025 film, Companion, evinces this through dark science fiction horror comedy (a mouthful, but it checks those boxes!) and stylish filmmaking.

Because I go into movies not reading anything about them, or even seeing the trailer if I can help it, I didn’t know Hancock’s film was science fiction. And in hindsight, having watched the trailer now, I’m glad I didn’t! They give away the twist and quite a bit else, which is why I don’t watch trailers anymore.

Iris (played sublimely by Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (played by Jack Quaid, who played one of the Ghostface killer’s in 2022’s Scream; I kept thinking he looked familiar!) are a relatively new couple who head to a lake house with Josh’s friends there. Obviously, I knew something was going to happen because the opening features a monologue from Iris about how life is a series of dark clouds hanging over you with brief bits of bright happiness, and two of her happiest moments are the day she met Josh … and the day she killed Josh. But I didn’t know what would happen, only that since that opening monologue there was a since of foreboding building. Particularly, Iris seemed off. Stilted to some extent? In hindsight, one might say robotic, which is a credit to Thatcher’s performance.

Kat (played by Megan Suri) is Josh’s best friend, along with Eli (played by Harvey Guillen) and his boyfriend, Patrick (played by Lukas Gage). Kat also has a boyfriend who owns the lake house, Sergey (played with just enough creep factor by Rupert Friend). The next morning after arriving, Iris goes to a spot by the lake without Josh, who is too hungover to join her, he says. She inexplicably has a switchblade in her hand. Sergey then shows up. He tries to sexually assault Iris. The next thing we see is Iris back in the house covered in blood with that switchblade still in hand. She tries to explain how she defended herself against Sergey. Then (for me), the twist happens: Josh tells Iris to “go to sleep.” Iris turns off like the ROBOT SHE IS! What?!

Turns out, Josh bought a robot who was “programmed” to love him and he basically turned her into a sex robot. Kat insinuated to Josh that Sergey was a Russian gangster who had millions of dollars stashed away at his lake house. They crafted a plan to have Iris kill Sergey, so they could take the money. Eli and Patrick didn’t know about the plan, but are brought into it after Iris escapes. At that point, I’m skeptical of anyone else I see: are they a robot or human? Patrick is a robot! Which I also suspected because, let’s be honest, Patrick was quite the catch for Eli. Eli was one of the sources of comedy throughout his time in the film. He accuses Josh of trying to roboshame him for picking a hot robot like Patrick. And later, when Eli is trying to capture Iris, he tells her he’s from an ally group before she shoots him. In this near-future world, robots are considered a protected minority.

That’s also the thing: Theoretically, the robots aren’t capable of violence, but Josh found a way to re-program Iris. Additionally, the robots can’t lie. To that latter issue, another funny moment is when Iris escapes in Josh’s self-driving vehicle, only for Josh to have the vehicle stopped because he reported it stolen. A police officer rolls up (and I figured he was a robot, but he wasn’t) and Iris, being a robot, speaks German to avoid talking in English to him, except because she can’t lie, she confesses to killing Sergey … but in German! That’s when Patrick, who has been reset to “love” Josh and do his bidding, runs up and brutally kills the cop and re-captures Iris.

What’s interesting is that Kat was, in her way, a “sex robot,” too. She confesses to Iris before all this insanity that she dresses the way Sergey wants, cooks what he wants, and screws him when he wants. Then laughs and says, “But look who I’m talking to.” Ah! Foreshadowing! There’s another moment like that when Josh asks Iris what the weather is and she tells him like Siri would and they laugh. Another one is Josh’s pet nickname for Iris: beep boop. That’s hilarious. I definitely can’t wait to watch this again to see if I catch more of those hints before we as viewers know she’s a robot.

Josh tells Patrick to stop Kat, who has had enough and is taking her cut of the money and leaving. Patrick takes that literally and stabs Kat to death. Josh gives a monologue to Iris about how he’s sick of not getting any respect and how pathetic his life is, essentially. He even laments that he doesn’t own Iris; she’s a rental! Ha. He’s like any pathetic incel-type. Because he’s cruel in the way I described at the top, he tests whether Iris can “feel” pain by putting her hand overtop a candle. It scalds her hand and lights half her arm on fire. She feels the sensation of pain for sure. He also has Iris’ intelligence setting turned down to 0% and makes her shoot herself in the head.

In his scheming, Josh then has the company behind the robots come pick her up. They don’t really buy his story, and Josh is paranoid about that, so he has Patrick attack them. Thankfully, Iris is able to “reboot” since all of her important programming is in her stomach, not her head, and stop Patrick from killing one of the workers. Because she can’t tell a lie, she convinces Patrick he’s being used by Josh. Patrick proceeds to kills himself, heartbroken over Eli’s death.

Perhaps the coolest death scene, though, is reserved for Josh, when Iris sends an electric corkscrew through his temple. The worker allowed Iris to fully control herself, and she leaves with Sergey’s money and waves with her robotic hand (the burnt one after she peeled away the skin) to another robotic woman having to listen to a man endlessly drone on (heh) in the car next to her. Cue credits.

What a goofy, earnest, gory good time! Hancock, who had only done one TV movie and television otherwise, brought something new to the horror genre by having the “final girl” be a robot who is tired of being abused and used by her boyfriend. Surely, we will also see much more of Sophie Thatcher, hopefully still in this genre as she was so good, but otherwise, too. It also goes without saying that Quaid knows how to play that incel-turned-serial-killer role to perfection at this point.