As Sophie Thatcher’s Iris learns in Companion, a healthy relationship needs to have both sides working together to achieve the best results. There are admittedly many more components, but the idea is basically the same with movies — for as good as some elements of a movie might be, if another area isn’t pulling its weight then the whole thing can be off. In the case of Companion, the talent on screen does their jobs to satisfying results, but behind the camera is where things didn’t live up to expectations.
In a nutshell, Companion sees a young couple, Iris and Josh (Jack Quaid), head out for a weekend getaway with friends Kat (Megan Suri), Eli (Harvey Guillen) and Patrick (Lukas Gage) at the remote cabin/mansion of Kat’s wealthy boyfriend Sergey (Rupert Friend). However, when a murder takes place it sets off a chain of events that is going to have rippling effects on everyone’s relationships.
Companion was written and directed by Drew Hancock, his first full-length movie credit of his career. While the script offers a fun concept and alludes to a few larger ideas, the movie reaches its heights because of the work of its ensemble. Hancock’s directing, meanwhile, is flat, failing to bring much to the table.
Hancock is able to check all of the basic boxes as a director, delivering a perfectly competent studio movie. But that’s about all I can say about his work. Companion is supposed to be a dark comedy that blends psychological thrills and sci-fi. You can tell a lot of these elements are there in the script, but the movie’s tone and style don’t make the most of them, which falls primarily on Hancock.
To be fair, Hancock’s script is a well-conceived, solidly-written piece of work. Wouldn't say it reinvents the wheel, but in addition to some good banter and quips, it weaves in some larger ideas about man’s hubris with technology and toxic masculinity/incel behavior without being overbearing on either subject.
Even so, the story has a sense of predictability to it. Part of that is the fault of marketing, which ruined a big twist meant to serve as a major moment. But even if you’ve missed the trailers and are coming in mostly blind, key story beats are foreshadowed so obviously that there’s little satisfaction when they actually do come to fruition. One of the rare instances that I was surprised was not because of where they took the story, but because a key piece of the moment seemingly popped out of nowhere and was something that wasn’t heavily foreshadowed.
All that being said, Companion is still a solidly entertaining movie, and that is because of the work of the cast. After a strong performance in 2024’s Heretic, Thatcher is once again a standout performer as Iris, carrying much of the emotional arc of the movie but also getting to bring some fun to her role as Iris assumes more autonomy. Meanwhile, Quaid takes a bit of a turn from his most notable character, Hughie on The Boys, to fun results. Suri, Guillen and Gage then all have their moments, particularly Guillen, who knows a thing or two about scene-stealing from his time on What We Do in the Shadows.
While a solid script and good performances make watching Companion a satisfying enough experience, the movie’s weak points keep it from being memorable.
You can watch Companion now exclusively in movie theaters in the US and UK.
