Over a casual brunch with my friend, we discussed the rise of A.I, and the inevitability of robots created specifically to deal with human loneliness. Considering the news of how a sex robot needed to be sent for repairs after it was repeatedly molested at a tech fair, it does make a person consider what would happen to these robots if such a reality came to exist. There’s a duality to humanity we can’t ignore, that as much as we are compassionate and kind, there’s also the side that’s cruel and exploitative. How would we treat A.I that belonged to us, created solely to satisfy our every desire?
This is the reality Companion brings us into. The movie begins with a meet-cute between Josh (Jack Quaid) and Iris (Sophie Thatcher). They meet at a grocery store, where Josh clumsily knocks over a bunch of oranges and they feel a spark. While adorable, this scene is disconcerting to watch unfold, especially when Mimi Cave’s Fresh revealed to us the predators lurking in the grocery store. When we see Iris and Josh again, they’re headed to a gathering of Josh’s friends and their significant others. Iris is eager to make an impression on his friends, so that they like her and support her relationship with Josh. He is less concerned, even telling her to be less “mopey” at one point.
The contrast between Iris’ ardent affection for Josh and his almost casual apathy makes us feel sorry for Iris, which is interesting as it’s not often that we find ourselves relating to the android over the human in a story. While androids are fascinating, ambiguous beings – as we’ve seen from the Alien franchise and Ex Machina – it is the human protagonist that drives the heart of a tale.
Maybe it’s so easy for us to feel for Iris because Sophie Thatcher is amazing. I saw her in Heretic last year and she was a stand-out there too. As Iris, she does a stellar job of conveying the demeanour and characteristics we would expect of A.I. She’s effusive and expressive, but there’s also something stiff and robotic in the way she walks. Quaid is absolutely charming – it’s why he was so good in Plus One – and has the acting chops to turn that charisma into something nasty, as we saw him do before in the Scream (2022).
The dark humour of Companion works really well; it also helps that the ensemble are all really good at comedy. Harvey Guillén is effortlessly hilarious as Josh’s friend Eli, and his whole relationship with boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage) is cute and adorable. Their coupling gives us something to emotionally root for, since Josh is the embodiment of a toxic boyfriend.
Companion tells us how the movie is going to end from the get-go. This is a double-edged sword: on one hand, it builds anticipation since we’re curious to know how things get to that point, however, this also means that there’s no tension at the end because we know the outcome. Companion thus doesn’t quite stick the landing, and as a result, is unable to maintain the momentum of its very strong start.
Still, with the constant sequel bait and remakes that permeates our cinema halls, it’s great to get a movie with a mostly novel concept, able to tonally balance its comedic and thriller counterparts. We usually think of January as movie dumping ground, the month where nothing good ever gets released. So I’m glad Companion ends up being the exception to that – an entertaining movie that resulted in hours of fruitful discussion over xiao long bao and hot tea.
REVIEW SCORE: 3.5/5
