Companion (dir. Drew Hancock)
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 97 mins
UK Distributor: Warner Bros
UK Release Date: 31 January 2025
WHO’S IN COMPANION?
Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, Rupert Friend
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Drew Hancock (director, writer), Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, J.D. Lifshitz, Josh Mack and Raphael Margules (producers), Hrishikesh Hirway (composer), Eli Born (cinematographer), Brett W. Bachman and Josh Ethier (editors)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Iris (Thatcher) embarks on a twisted romance with Josh (Quaid)…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON COMPANION?
The debate over whether trailers give away too much plot information has been going on for years, but perhaps we can all agree that whenever they reveal arguably the film’s biggest twist, it’s almost always a sure sign that the studio knows they have an otherwise unmarketable stinker on their hands.
For a little bit, it looked like Companion was going down the same path that the likes of Terminator Genisys and Dream House did with their own spoiler-heavy trailers, with a recent promo, coming after its initial attention-grabbing teaser (shown above), laying out what the big reveal actually was – and for those who haven’t had the misfortune of seeing it, this review will keep those details intentionally vague.
However, it turns out that writer-director Drew Hancock’s film isn’t as unmarketable as its big trailer reveal perhaps suggests. The twist is not only revealed fairly early on in the movie, but is also the first of quite a few intriguing turns, some of them arguably outdoing the one that’s plastered all over that promo. It makes the viewing experience a bit more fun, even when the film isn’t always as clever or as innovative as that first teaser makes it appear to be.
The film opens with a young woman named Iris (Sophie Thatcher) recounting her suspiciously conventional meet-cute with her beloved boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) in a very Stepford Wives-esque supermarket, the first of many blatant clues as to the true nature of certain individuals. Next thing we know, they’re headed to a remote getaway home for the weekend with Josh’s friends, including Eli (Harvey Guillén), his attractive boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage), Josh’s ex Kat (Megan Suri) and her slimy Russian sugar daddy Sergey (Rupert Friend).
But quickly, things take a deadly turn after Sergey makes a pass at Iris – and that’s something which isn’t a spoiler to discuss, seeing how it’s even in that less-detailed teaser – and one thing leads to another, which itself leads to Iris running for her life through the surrounding woods avoiding her would-be captors, including her supposedly charming boyfriend.
Again, this review will not give away the big twist that comes in around the 20-minute mark, since Companion is the kind of the film that really works best when you know as little about it as possible before going in. That being said, the way that it’s handled in the actual movie is such that it almost feels odd to even call it a twist, since it’s so clearly telegraphed with certain on-the-nose lines of dialogue that more than spell out what it actually going on, regardless of whether or not you’ve already seen that spoiler-y trailer. Hancock, though, wisely packs his script with interesting enough outliers for the viewer to latch onto before and after the big reveal, including an amusing set of side characters that range from ferociously catty to all-out slimeball, and at least a dozen comfortable layers of plotting that expose certain people’s devious motives.
Central to it all is a darkly funny commentary on the nature of toxic relationships, specifically the kind where it’s very clear who has the power and control in the situation, and who is left with no option but to blissfully submit despite their partner’s seedy behaviour. Of course, this is far from fresh conceptual territory, with such a thing been at the forefront of recent films like Don’t Worry Darling and last year’s Blink Twice, but unlike those movies Companion is less interested in the actual message and more in just giving the viewer an entertaining ride, which Hancock manages to do with some tongue-in-cheek writing and direction that plays around with perspectives and established information (one sequence, for instance, is repeated beat-for-beat later on with another cast member filling in for the original person), and which is elevated by some lively turns by the cast, especially Sophie Thatcher who between this and Heretic is fast becoming a reliable horror lead with timing and charisma to spare.
The film is fun to watch, but narratively it is somewhat flimsy, with things starting to fall apart the more that you think about them. You’ll leave yourself questioning why some people decide to go a particular way with their master plan, when to opt for a much simpler resolution would have worked out better for everyone, and why others simply do not just take matters into their own hands rather than rely on others to carry things out at such perfectly-timed precision. It’s also the kind of film that throws in sudden new developments later on to keep the story going, or to conveniently help out certain people when they’re in a seemingly inescapable situation, to a point where this almost feels like a universe where literally anything can happen at any moment (and seeing how self-driving cars are apparently all the rage in this world, I suppose it really could be).
If the script doesn’t always feel solid, even with its amusing character work and interesting approach to a number of socially relevant themes, Companion is an entertaining enough ride that serves as fine escapism with uncomfortable laughs, unexpected turns, and a twisted sense of fun.
But once again, try and go into it as blind as possible, and definitely don’t watch any other trailers for it other than the one at the top of this page.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Companion is an engaging and entertaining ride that manages to sustain interest despite its early big reveal, as some clever turns and dark humour help the narrative overcome its occasional flimsiness.
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