COMPANION : Tuesday 4th February 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'COMPANION' at my local multiplex this week, and this American science fiction thriller film is Written and Directed by Drew Hancock in his feature film making debut. The film was released Stateside on 31st January, has so far grossed US$22M from a production budget of US$10M and has received positive critical reviews. 

The film opens with a young woman pushing a shopping trolley down the aisles of a grocery store. There she sets eyes on a young man and there is an instant attraction. They introduce themselves as Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid). Sometime later, they drive to an isolated lakehouse to meet friends Kat (Megan Suri), couple Eli (Harvey Guillen) and Patrick (Lukas Gage), and Sergey (Rupert Friend), Kat's boyfriend who owns the house and the acreage that surrounds the lake. The group settle in, eat dinner together and dance the night away. 

The next day, Iris is down at the lakeside and along saunters Sergey, who attempts to rape Iris, allegedly at Kat's suggestion. He refuses to stop, and she kills him in self-defence, by plunging a knife into his neck. Soaked in Sergey's blood and panic stricken, she returns to the house to explain. Josh uses the command, 'Iris, go to sleep', so powering her down.

Iris is awakened and bound to a chair. Josh informs Iris that she's a 'companion' robot who can be controlled by an app on his mobile phone. He leaves the room to talk with Kat. While away, Iris breaks free, steals Josh's phone and flees into a nearby forest. She reviews her settings first toying with the colour of her eyes, then the tone of her voice and finally increasing her intelligence levels from 40% to 100%. It's revealed Josh 'jailbroke' Iris, increasing aggression levels and disabling her inability to do harm. He and Kat planned for Iris to kill Sergey to steal US$12M in cash that he has stashed in a safe. Eli and Patrick were invited to corroborate their story if necessary. Josh and Kat insist Patrick's not entitled to money because he 'doesn't count', revealing Patrick to be a 'companion' also. Eli takes a gun from Sergey's safe, believing Iris can't truly be shut down while possessing Josh's phone. They search the forest for her with Josh and Kat.

In a quiet moment in the forest Patrick admits to Eli that he knows he's a robot, but loves him regardless. They hear Josh's phone buzzing nearby and spot Iris hiding behind a tree. She flees, Eli takes a shot at her and misses, but quickly catches up and tackles her as they tumble downhill. The gun is knocked away in the scuffle, and while wrestling for control of it, Iris shoots Eli dead. She returns to the house, attempting to escape in Josh's self-driving car, using the voice control on Josh's phone to emulate his voice to command the car to 'drive home'. Josh uses Sergey's phone, reporting the car stolen. The car comes to a halt a short time later by the side of the road, locking her in. Josh resets Patrick to be his 'companion,' applies the same jailbreaking mod(ification)s, and commands him to find and return Iris to him.

Iris kicks out the car's window to flee on foot, but is stopped by a randomly passing Police Patrol Car. Police Officer Hendrix (Marc Menchaca) questions Iris who has switched her language settings to German in order to deter him as companions are unable to lie, but he then sees the bloodied knife in the car. About to apprehend Iris, Patrick appears and beats Hendrix to death, then disables Iris using Sergey's phone. She falls unconscious, and is brought back to the lakehouse. Kat, disgusted by Josh's actions, tries leaving with her share of the US$12M. Josh orders Patrick to stop her, and so he stabs her in the back with a kitchen knife. She stumbles to the sofa where she bleeds out.

Later that night, Patrick cooks dinner for Josh. Empathix (the company that owns and markets the companions) calls. Josh answers, making his conversation sound as though he is in fear of Iris, wanting her removed from his life. Iris, handcuffed to a chair at the other end of the table, waits. Josh carries on about how little he has in life, with Iris responding and belittling him. He retaliates, decreasing her intelligence down to 0%, turning her into an automaton. He commands she raise her arm and then lower her hand holding it over a burning candle, refusing to let her remove it even as her arm catches fire, then commands she shoot herself in the head. Empathix workers Sid (Matt McCarthy) and Teddy (Jaboukie Young-White) arrive. Josh concocts a story about her malfunctioning, shooting herself out of emotional turmoil and so wiping her memories. They inform Josh that video isn't stored in the head like a brain, and is instead in the stomach area. They leave with Iris on a stretcher. Josh commands Patrick kill them and retrieve Iris. Patrick kills Sid, but Teddy flees, trips and falls as Patrick catches up. Before he can kill Teddy, Iris fully reboots, pleading Patrick to spare him, appealing to his better judgement and reminding him of his love for Eli. He struggles to hold back due to the aggression mod. Overcome with despair over his lack of true humanity, Patrick commits suicide by placing an electric cattle prod in his mouth and turning it on. Teddy grants Iris full control of herself.

Iris returns to the house one last time, confronting Josh. The pair get into a physical fight with Josh seemingly gaining the upper hand. As Josh is straddling Iris, she reaches for an electric corkscrew and instructs Josh 'go to sleep,' while stabbing him in the temple with the corkscrew ejecting bits of skull and brain like a cork, killing him. The next morning, she peels the burnt 'skin' off her arm while showering blood and dirt from the prior day away, exposing the metal skeleton underneath. She packs clothes and Sergey's US$12M in cash, leaving in a convertible vintage sports car. While driving away, she sees another man driving with a bot that looks exactly like her except for the styling of hair and makeup. Iris smiles and waves her robotic hand to the latter's confusion, having recognised their near identical appearance. 

'Companion' is a science fiction horror thriller romantic drama with enough dark humour thrown into the mix to satisfy the most discerning viewer. Sophie Thatcher is a revelation in her performance as the robotic AI femme fatale with the other cast members all doing their fair share of the heavy lifting in supporting roles. First time feature Director Drew Hancock has delivered us a film that is an allegory on relationships, control, coercion, greed, the evil that men can do and ultimately survival, and on this basis the film succeeds handsomely, and you will be entertained for all of its brisk 97 minute run time.

'Companion' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-