Sophie Thatcher Is the Girl of Jack Quaid’s Dreams (and Nightmares) in Biting Tech Thriller

Take a sprinkling of the “Be Right Back” episode of Black Mirror, a spoonful of Ruby Sparks, a dollop of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, and a good dose of Drew Hancock’s laser-focused vision, and out bakes Companion. The rom-com turned action thriller-horror takes a fairly familiar concept and recognizable moving parts, but as a whole, it is something wholly unique to behold. It’s equal parts an Ex Machina-esque look at humans’ evolving relationship with technology and AI, and a painfully accurate and ugly depiction of modern dating, and how men’s treatment towards women, even those they proclaim to love, can still be laced with controlling misogynistic sentiments disguised as nice guy behavior.

It might sound like Companion bites off more than it can chew, but that’s where its true genius lies. A lot of lesser movies would be too fixated on serving up an array of subtextual meanings that they forget they need to forge a decent story. But all of Companion’s focus is on a well-paced, exciting thriller filled with hilarious, detestable, and compelling characters, with an exquisite lead in Sophie Thatcher. The deeper meanings, the Black Mirror-like commentary, and the aim at men’s sexist habits are the by-products of a razor-sharp script from Hancock.

What Is ‘Companion’ About?

Iris is madly in love with her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid), still dreaming about their “perfect” meet-cute, even as the couple have seemingly been together for a while. They travel to a remote, ostentatious lake house to spend the weekend with Josh’s friends — Kat (Megan Suri), who is hostile towards Iris, couple Eli (Harvey Guillén) and Patrick (Lukas Gage), and Kat’s eccentric and filthy rich boyfriend Sergey (Rupert Friend having a whale of a time), who owns the home. The first night is filled with food, drink, and dancing, but right away, as happy as Iris appears to be with Josh, we know that something is off. Josh is dismissive of her and keeps whispering with Kat in the corner, much to Iris’ jealousy.

The next day, Sergey tries to force himself on Iris, resulting in her stabbing him to death. From there, the odd looks and whispers come into the light. It’s revealed that Iris is a robot, a “companion” bought by Josh to make up for his pathetic love life (and get him off as much as he wants). Josh has tampered with Iris’ programming, overriding several safety features to have Iris kill Sergey so the group can steal his millions in cash. To enjoy Companion as much as possible, I’d go in knowing no more than that. To be honest, the reveal of Iris’ true nature would’ve been a lot more shocking if the trailer hadn’t already ruined it. Still, it speaks volumes about the movie’s depiction of relationships that you can’t discern whether a guy is interacting with a robot or is just a really shitty boyfriend. The group tries to take down Iris, and it becomes a cat-and-mouse — or human-and-robot — game as Iris comes to terms with the truth of her existence and her newfound autonomy.

‘Companion’s Deeper Meanings Never Feel Forced

As said, with such a high concept and so many metaphors and references to real-life gripes, issues, and experiences, Companion could’ve easily felt like it was relying too heavily on its idea, and not enough on execution. But like many of the aforementioned titles it’s reminiscent of, Companion’s brilliance comes from how implicit its conversation is. It’s not trying to be a foreboding warning of what AI or advancing tech might do, nor is it trying to show off how feminist it is in its takedown of men. In its subtitles, and through some brilliant characterization, it manages to be all of this and more while still producing an exciting horror-thriller with plenty of laughs. Hancock isn’t constantly elbowing the audience saying “Geddit?” as he’s too busy ensuring Companion hits all the right notes of comedy, romance, and, sometimes, horror, in his direction, and letting his script speak for itself.

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Much like Zoe Kazan’s wizardry in her writing of Ruby Sparks, the movie’s rumination on modern relationships and men’s controlling behaviors is one of its most poignant discussions. Our feelings towards Iris don’t change when we find out she isn’t human — quite the opposite. Our protection and desire for her to prevail only becomes stronger. She’s collateral damage in a world where men won’t work to find love, so they have it delivered to them instead, and name it after the softboi music they cry themselves to sleep to. (Yes, we get a Goo Goo Dolls needle drop and it is perfect.) Unlike the uncanny persona of Alicia Vikander’s Eva in Ex Machina, Iris is the most human-resembling and empathetic of the entire cast. Like Kazan’s Ruby, she is just another woman who is made to feel unloved and inadequate by her male partner, who can’t handle when she is anything but what he wants.

‘Companion’s Hilarious Cast Is Led by a Terrific Sophie Thatcher

The cast of Companion feels like they were born to play each of their characters. A 30-something pathetic white guy who seems nice on the surface but then when you look deeper he’s actually just a dick — Jack Quaid nails it every time. He uses his affable, everyday guy charm to disarm both Iris and the audience, but he’s able to step back into his menacing Ghostface facade as the movie calls for it. What We Do in the Shadows‘ Harvey Guillén is to Companion what Rachel Sennott was to Bodies Bodies Bodies, constantly nailing his entitled but still likable rich-kid-in-trouble deliveries. While Iris is certainly the movie’s beating heart, Eli is the constant supply of fresh air, and his relationship with Patrick becomes one of the movie’s most interesting and optimistic speaking points on contemporary relationships.

But the reason your eyes can’t be pulled from the screen is, without a doubt, seeing what Sophie Thatcher does next. It’s a testament to Thatcher’s inherent charisma and magnetic screen presence that she earns our favor so firmly when she’s literally programmed to serve her mediocre boyfriend. Instead of resembling a TikTok tradwife who talks like they’ve had a lobotomy, Iris’ spotless, devoted demeanor only endears us to her more. Her earnestness and devotion to Josh, her eyes locked on him as she dances across the room, frame her as the most empathetic of all these characters. It’s similar to the affection we have towards Poor Things’ Bella Baxter, but it also has to do with how much she reflects one of humanity’s basic fears — not being good enough for your partner.

A lot of Iris’ scenes could be painfully saccharine, but Thatcher’s low register and Kristen Stewart-like awkwardness only make her a very familiar victim of first love we can’t help but root for. As the horror-adjacent plot gets underway, Thatcher is our true action heroine, hitting some hilarious comedic beats while calling in her years of horror experience as a bonafide scream queen. The entire cast makes up a hilarious line-up of hateable characters you want to see burn, with Thatcher’s Iris perfectly centered as the character you want to see light the match.

Apart from the impeccable cast, what’s most impressive about Companion is its balance of so many differing moving parts. It’s a genuinely funny comedy, a suspenseful thriller, and has some pretty gnarly gore scenes to boot. Simultaneously, it never lets the feelings of love, betrayal, and deceit get lost in the action or the line between human and robot. It all blurs to make up a surprisingly earnest conversation about how destructive love — and, even more so, not having it — can be. It’s not a miserable vision of a world where tech replaces love, but a snaring look at how men still view women as adaptable to their needs, and a surprisingly tender reminder that love, the right kind of love, makes the world go round.

Companion comes to theaters on January 31.

Companion is a sharp, suspenseful, and hilarious meeting point between tech and AI anxiety and the tribulations of modern dating.

Pros

• Companion’s script is laced with subtle but biting comments on modern life.
• Aside from its cultiral commentary, Companion is still an exciting horror-thriller.
• Sophie Thatcher as Iris is a compelling, sympathetic protagonist who you could watch for hours.
• Due in large part to the cast, there are some hilarious moments throughout Companion.

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