FILM studios still seem happy with handing off the final cut of their movies to trailer houses that love to spoil twists that would be best enjoyed by watching the film. Unfortunately, Companion is a victim of this.
Against an almost diabetic, sappy love song, Companion opens with Iris (Sophie Thatcher) recalling the moment she first met the love of her life Josh (Jack Quaid) in a supermarket.
She claims she was happiest during two moments in her life. As he fumbles his first words to her before triggering an avalanche of oranges from a counter, Iris says the first was when she met Josh and the second was when she killed him.
It is the perfect setup to a dark comedy with shades of romance. Eventually, the couple arrives at a remote cabin for a gathering with friends that would go technologically awry.
This film should be watched without knowing its twists beforehand. Drew Hancock’s Companion only reveals its big surprise around 30 minutes into the film, which means Warner Bros Pictures threw the filmmaker and his movie under the bus by disclosing the twist in marketing content.
That said, the film is still entertaining as Thatcher continues to make her mark as a “scream queen”, with her role in Companion vaguely similar to last year’s Heretic. Her role in this film is meatier, as she has to embody the duality that Iris requires.
Similarly, Quaid is also good, as he continues to pick film roles playing a scumbag – as though to balance his goody two-shoes character in The Boys, which he is more known for.
Without spoiling anything, the film’s central premise involves technology but Companion does not have much to say about the morality of what it presents to the audience.
It has brief moments of extreme unease, such as when one of Josh’s acquaintances, Sergey – played by Rupert Friend with an intentionally bad Russian accent – forces himself on Iris and she fights back.
There are other moments similar to this, like Josh’s uncomfortable incel rant about being a “nice guy”, his relationship and views of women and so on, but Companion quickly glosses over these in exchange for bursts of comedy and/or violence.
Unfortunately, there is nothing to Companion’s exoskeleton beyond a layer of skin made of the lead performances
and humour.
Companion is available on Prime Video.
