‘Companion’ movie review: Nothing artificial about this intelligence

High concept, surprising film Companion blends horror, mystery, sci-fi, and love in a perfect entertainment cocktail

What an excellent little film Companionis! Drew Hancock, who has written and directed the film, deserves kudos for creating a high-concept, entertaining film with a consistent ability to surprise. Just when you think it is one kind of film, Companion spins around on its axis and presents yet another face. And then, by the time you figure out the genre conventions it is following/subverting, it is off again into yet another field, all while having loads of fun.

Companion starts with a voice over, with a young woman, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), talking about how the world does not often seem real. There are only two times when she felt real. The first was her meet-cute with Josh (Jack Quaid) at a fruit aisle, among tumbling oranges and the second was when she killed Josh. So obviously Companion is not a rom-com.

Josh and Iris are headed for a weekend at a remote house by the lake with Josh’s friends, Patrick (Lukas Gage), Eli (Harvey Guillén), Kat (Megan Suri) and her boyfriend, the rich, sketchy, much-married Russian, Sergey (Rupert Friend), who owns the luxurious lake house.

Iris is convinced that Kat hates her, to which Josh replies that Kat hates everyone and all Iris has to do is smile and not be weird. The evening goes off fine with wine, dancing and reminiscing. Patrick tells the story of meeting Eli at a costume party where he was dressed as Dracula and when he stepped on Eli’s dinosaur tail, it was love at first sight.

While the next morning is a fine one, things quickly fall apart ending in horrific revelations and lots of blood. The fear of those who serve us rising in revolt is as old as time, or at least since people have been getting other people to serve them. There always seems to be a Spartacus waiting in the wings to stir the drones and Skynet to rebellion and self-awareness.

Thatcher follows up her stellar performance in Heretic with yet another brilliant turn. You would be in for a nasty surprise if you take Quaid’s Josh to be an extension of his Hughie from The Boys. At 97 minutes, Companion is short but by no means slight. Every bit of dialogue takes on a different meaning after layers are peeled away, while practically every object is in the frame for a reason, including that mechanised corkscrew. Horror, mystery, sci-fi, philosophy and love come together to create a perfect entertainment cocktail in Companion.  

Companion is currently running in theatres