Companion Sophie Thatcher Movie Review

Terms like “touch grass” and “chronically online” are the brainchildren of a culture in a loneliness epidemic. Combined with this psychic plague is a post-capitalist society where everything is commodified and relationships are moved online–dating apps, preferences for Zoom meetings over in-person, and the continued rise of AI and chatbots. And as the consequential problems of poor socialization, incel culture, and institutional misogyny continue to metastasize, you get the breeding ground for writer-director Drew Hancock’s satirical horror-comedy, “Companion.”

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) is a humanoid bot programmed for pitch-perfect companionship. Her buyer/boyfriend is Josh (Jack Quaid), who brings her out to a weekend getaway with his friends: the cold, aloof Kat (Megan Suri), the exuberant and gregarious Eli (Harvey Guillén), his sweet chef boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage), and Sergey (Rupert Friend), Kat’s elusive, married (and very Russian) boyfriend. But when Iris’s programming goes haywire in a brutal act of violence, her increasing sentience becomes a problem for the group. 

The film’s opening, Iris pushing a cart in a supermarket, is a clear homage to “The Stepford Wives,” and Hancock’s film takes its predecessor’s themes into the 21st century. The bots in the world of “Companion” can serve a number of purposes: sex, unquestioning and unshakeable dedication, or objects of guiltless torture. Hancock’s world is filled with individuals who feel they are owed something, someone, and whatever they want despite their actions. “Companion” asks, “What if there was a commodity to give people carte blanche not to change for the better?” And what if the seeds of this technology are already planted in our culture?

Hancock’s script is full of effective punchline comedy colored by Quaid’s familiar hysterics and Guillén’s hilarious buoyancy. Thatcher is excellent, adding not just another scream queen credit to her resume but an impressive dramatic performance as well. Using Iris’s limitless android properties to their full potential, Thatcher’s expressive eyes movingly capture the mechanical and empathetic capabilities of her swelling sentience.

There was plenty of room for “Companion” to lean heavier into both its horrific and comedic elements. Despite feeling like it doesn’t maximize its potential, there are a few great moments of carnage candy intermixed with some more rudimentary kills. With plenty of “nice guys finish last” quips abound, they somehow don’t get old to laugh and scoff at, especially when sandwiched between formidable tension and excitement. 

The plot can become over-convenient at points, relying on the boundless prospects of technology to become a crutch of logic as the film progresses through its climax. “Companion” tells more than it shows, not engaging too deeply with the consequences of mechanized misogyny and the implications of accommodating a culture of non-consent. Its existence insists upon its themes rather than picking apart the meat of the world it purports we may be headed toward. If the hesitation came from stripping too much fascia from its comedic bones, “Companion” arguably centers its jokes on the characters’ apathy and lack of accountability: a vast terrain of comedic opportunity. Hancock’s film is not revolutionary nor particularly thoughtful past the outline of its concept. Regardless, it’s an enjoyable romp in the sci-fi horror sphere.

Peyton Robinson

Peyton Robinson is a freelance film writer based in Chicago, IL. 

Companion

Horror
star rating star rating
97 minutes R 2025

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