Henry Sincic
Contributor
Jada Hauser | The Washtenaw Voice
 3.5 out of 5 stars This review may contain spoilers for “Companion”, released in theatres in Jan. 2025. |
The hook of this film is classic science fiction: a robot, built by man to be the subservient girlfriend of the paying customer, has gained autonomy and can no longer be controlled. Under the stewardship of a great writer, this concept could lend itself to some great social commentary, dark humor, or both. In “Companion,” we get a serviceable helping of both, but one wishes that it were more substantial.
“Companion” takes cues from the classic “cabin in the woods” trope that pervades modern horror and slashers in general. A man named Josh (Jack Quaid) is visiting his friends for the weekend in a luxurious house, surrounded by miles of wilderness in all directions. He is joined by his girlfriend, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), who seems a bit off in her sincere aloofness. She seems sad and distant, while nonetheless being devoted to her boyfriend. We learn, before she does, that she is a robot.
The film seems to take place in our not-so-distant future, where self-driving cars are proficient and, as we learn, realistic, programmable robot “companions” are mass-produced. Iris is one of these. One character derisively terms them “f*ckbots” and, regarding Josh’s view of Iris, it doesn’t feel too off the mark. One wishes that the world the film presents to us would be more fully explored, as we don’t know whether we’re supposed to be aghast at the reality of programmable life being enslaved to the whims of consumer enjoyment, or if we’re supposed to take it as a darkly comedic backdrop to what COULD happen in our near future.
Sophie Thatcher continues her reputation as an austere voice of reason from last year’s “Heretic” and, as in that film, she is excellent. Really, her performance buoys the movie, filling one with empathy at her sad state of servitude and subordination. When she gains autonomy and is allowed to get her payback, it really DOES feel great, and empowering.
Jack Quaid plays the awkward, sniveling, self-serving jerkwad to perfection, though the writing can create a bit of a disconnect between his character and his actions. It’s hard to believe that Josh would have the gumption to deal with such a quickly unraveling situation himself, once Iris does begin to act out. The other friends are stereotypes, to be sure, but they’re strangely likable in their narrowness. It’s a shame there isn’t more time spent with them in the film.
Perhaps this movie’s greatest flaw is that it doesn’t ever explore far enough in any one direction. No character is quite explored enough for this to be seen as a gripping social drama, and the movie doesn’t contain enough laughs, though it does have a few good ones, to constitute a dark comedy.
It really operates best as a thriller. The first act and a half contains enough twists to keep things interesting, even if a shrewd watcher would likely predict most of them, but even they seem to dry up the more the movie goes on.
It is often the case that a movie needs to focus on making at least one element truly sublime in order to achieve greatness, and the unfortunate truth is that, even though this movie is more than serviceable in every regard, it doesn’t truly stand out as something much more than any number of the previous “good enough” movies that come out all the time.
The problem is that the writing is too bland, especially for Josh and Iris. The movie had the opportunity to analyze not only a broken, abusive relationship but what it means to HAVE autonomy and what, if anything, this contributes to the broken, abusive relationships that exist in our reality. “Poor Things” did much better with this concept of a woman made by men to serve for their gratification finding autonomy.
Make no mistake: the movie is STILL worth seeing. It is a better-than-average thriller with some great performances and interesting social concepts. The timing of the movie’s release to coincide with the “month of love,” though, remains a curious oddity.
“There might be some special, interesting couples that want to see it together,” said Hope Bernard, WCC Film Instructor, pre-release. “In general … people don’t get the overt irony and humor.”
Maybe “Heart Eyes” has a better shot of being the de facto Valentine’s slasher this year. Eh? Eh?
