“Companion” was written & directed by Drew Hancock & stars Sophie Thatcher & Jack Quaid in the lead roles along with Lukas Cage, Megan Suri, Harvey Gullen & Rupert Friend. The film is produced by Zach Cregger, Roy Lee & JD Lifshitz, the creators of the 2022 hit, “Barbarian”, which was also written & directed by Cregger, who was originally supposed to direct this film but took a producer’s role in favor of Hancock.
A young couple is travelling to a lake house with a group of friends for the weekend. Iris (Thatcher) & Josh (Quaid) meet up with Eli (Gullien) and his boyfriend Patrick (Gage) and Kat (Suri) and her boyfriend, Sergey (Friend). One morning, Iris is out by the lake alone before being joined by Sergey. He makes advances towards her, which she nicely turns down. It gets more uncomfortable for her to the point where she pulls a knife and stabs him in the throat. As Iris is explaining herself to the rest of the group, Josh says a phrase & she powers, revealing she’s a prototype android known as a “Companion”. When she is turned back on, she uncovers a dark & twisted plan by the group of murder & mischief. Now, Iris must overcome her programming to not only save herself but to stop the plan from unfolding before anyone else gets hurt.
This film was presented as a horror film from the trailer but it all actuality its more of a dark comedy. It has the same feel as “Barbarian” which comes from the producers, meaning the look and cinematography are great. It also has a few similarities to the 2014 film, “Ex Machina” but still stays true to itself. It’s not as dark & gloomy as “Barbarian” but does have a spectacular performance from Sophie Thatcher. From her body language to her facial expressions & the way she delivers lines, her performance really carries the entire movie. Jack Quaid is also great in this film, going from the nice guy of the film to quickly becoming the most unlikeable character of the cast.
Overall, this was a good dark comedy that has fantastic lead performances from the main characters and a great look and feel from the director. The film was originally slated for a January 10th release date but was pushed back to January 31st, 2025, hitting theaters nationwide before landing on the streaming service platform, HBO Max, in April later that year.