Companion [2025]

May 8, 2025

As technological progress inevitably, well, progresses, I guess we’re going back to the basics. And when I say basics, I mean movie concepts from the eighties. I think you already know that I have a special relationship with releases from this decade. And that I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to bring it up. Just like I did just now. Companion is a well-made, entertaining, and sleek-looking science fiction movie with a healthy amount of black humor. It’s about Iris, a young girl who starts realizing that something might be just off. Her boyfriend Josh swears that’s not true but his very name suggests that he might be lying. All of this will come to a head during one very eventful weekend.

The first thing I have to tell you about Companion is that it’s NOT one of those bland commercial science fiction action movies that feel more like a product and less like a movie. I mean, I haven’t seen Subservience, starring Megan Fox, but I have a feeling it fits that definition. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t check it out. After all, it’s starring Megan Fox and that’s all I need to hear. I think we’re, sorry, I’m getting a bit off track here so let’s get back to business. Companion features alluring visuals, excellent pacing, and quite a bit of bloody action. I just love movies that don’t shy away from a bit of graphic violence. What can I say, I’m old school that way.

While the story might be familiar and simplistic, the script is solid and it raises some interesting issues. Moreover, it offers a realistic version of the future that we might be living in right now. I don’t want to spoil anything for you but as soon as the movie is over, you can start googling and find out what I mean by that. The lead role went to the young rising star Sophie Thatcher whom you might remember from the television show Yellowjackets. She was great just as she was alongside Pedro Pascal in the highly underrated sci-fi Prospect. Jack Quaid, that poor guy from The Boys, is another promising actor who was just as good.

I’ll just drop Rupert Friend’s (Hitman, Starred Up, Homeland) name and move on to other things. Companion feels like an episode of Black Mirror. It also feels like another one in the series of modern slashers using the weekend getaway cheat code. I mean, you don’t need expensive sets, lots of actors or extras, just a swanky mansion in the middle of nowhere and you’re set. Again, I have to emphasize the fact that all of the important elements are quite tight and sturdy. This means you’re going to have a great time watching this movie. The script is clever and it also offers a lot of twists I didn’t see coming. I wish we had more science fiction stuff but that’s just a minor complaint that’s quite insignificant.

What I meant to say is that I would love to see what Drew Hancock, who wrote and directed the movie, would do with them. I bet something really awesome. His next movie, the remake of the nineties classic The Faculty, will shed some light on that. So, that’s about it when it comes to the main stuff. If you’re looking for movies like Companion but without the science fiction element, I recommend you check out Revenge. Now that’s a fucking masterpiece while Sick and Bodies Bodies Bodies are perfectly watchable slashers also using the “weekend getaway gone wrong” gimmick.

Finally, I just want to briefly touch upon one of the themes that Companion explores. That theme is the relationship between a man and a woman from a certain male perspective. We all know not all men are like Josh and not all women behave like Iris. However, I know real people who are like that and who are in these sorts of relationships. Relationships where the woman’s main objective is to be in service of her man, basically a patriarchy. Like how things were some seventy years ago. The movie also makes numerous references to The Stepford Wives [1975]. They include the opening scene with the cart in the store which is the last scene in that movie.

The way Iris has to push her personality down, smile, nod, and seemingly enjoy the dinner conversation is quite disgusting. The next theme on the menu is the one of human morality. Is this really the direction we’re heading in? Driven by primal instincts and the tribal system of values, we’re basically regressing in terms of our evolution. What makes the whole thing even more perplexing is the abundance of advancements we’re using in the wrong way. As soon as I’ve used the term wrong I’ve introduced a moral dimension to this discussion. What’s the right way to use these advancements, you might ask.

Well, I hate to come to a stop right now, when the discussion is getting into beautifully rant-fertile ground but I have to. The subject is far too complex for me to boil down to just a couple of sentences. However, feel free to carry on and tell me your thoughts in the comments section, I would love to talk to you. Oh yeah, and smash the patriarchy!