Companion, co-produced by Zach (Barbarian) Cregger and written/directed by Drew (My Dead Ex) Hancock, is a robot movie, or make that an android one, which centers on current, A.I. views.
Though there are other movies of its kind, Companion isn't quite Ex Machina, The Stepford Wives, Blade Runner, Westworld, M3GAN or Cherry 2000 (and it's far from those related, cyborg staples, Terminator, RoboCop and Deadly Friend, though it does offer some recognizable nods). Even so, it still sticks to the general sub-genre and holds a confined feel to its philosophical premise, which reflects another android favorite, Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, "The Lateness of the Hour," with the latter occurring in a sole setting, and Companion transpiring within and around a getaway mansion.
The vacationers include Jack (The Boys/Scream V) Quaid's laid-back Josh; Harvey (What We Do in the Shadows) Guillien's jovial Eli; Lukas (Euphoria/Smile 2) Gage's accommodating Patrick; Megan (It Lives Inside) Suri's highbrow Kat; Rupert (Canary Black/The Libertine) Friend's "soiled" entrepreneur and gathering's host, Sergey; and Sophie (Heretic) Thatcher's Iris, aka the Companion. Each of Iris' supporting players holds a secret, a plan, which Iris only comes to unravel when she's manipulated. From there, she learns that lying and selfishness are all part of the human condition.
As the trailers have conveyed, Josh and Iris are presented as the headlining couple who introduce us to the others, and it should be noted that Josh's compatriots do, indeed, know that Iris is a tag-along, pleasure model. When one of them forces her into a sexual situation, it's then that things turn murderous.
In the bloodshed's aftermath, Companion engages gallows humor, though it's frugal and subdued with its weird hijinks. It's a situation where, upon reflection, one will recall certain harrowing scenes as funny (consider An American Werewolf in London, Motel Hell and The Substance). Credit for the dry humor goes to Hancock, but it's underscored by the performers' pragmatic exchanges, which become more enlivened when circumstances enter that inevitable point of no return.
As a further asset, Companion's climax is more bitter than sweet in its encircling vengeance. That's good. Why expect (or desire) a tidy, Disney, fairy-tale conclusion to it, even with Valentine's Day around the bend? Also, regardless of its science-fiction framework, Companion is quirky, unadulterated horror, and because of such, a higher-tier success.
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