Companion Review: A Controlled, Clever Sci-Fi Thriller

Psychological suspense meets dark humor in a story about human entitlement.

Spoilers ahead.

Companion drops us into a sleek lake house full of ego, and curated personalities, and this movie is incredibly controlled and a quietly vicious thriller that knows exactly what it’s doing.

It’s smugness actually almost works against it. Almost.

Synopsis

A weekend getaway at a remote cabin turns to chaos when it’s revealed that one of the guests - a subservient android built for human companionship - has gone haywire.

Good Points

• Strong lead performance from Sophie Thatcher

• Jack Quaid plays “reasonable monster” disturbingly well

• Clean, simple concept that doesn’t overcomplicate itself

• Tension

• Dark humour lands

Bad Points

• A few genre beats are easy to predict

• Emotional fallout maybe could’ve been pushed further

The relationship is the real horror.

Iris, played superbly by the brilliant Sophie Thatcher, is a product that is programmed to adore Josh, adapt to Josh, and more importantly obey Josh - and the film also understands something uncomfortable - Josh doesn’t think he’s evil, he thinks he’s entitled.

What worked best for me though was the total restraint it delivers, even when things escalate, it has this icy calmness that is quite unsettling, where everything is ever so calculated - and that calculation fits the tone perfectly.

I always respect that in movies.

And that calculation fits the tone perfectly.

Sophie Thatcher is doing a lot with very little.

I’m a fan of Sophie Thatcer, and her performance here is built on micro-adjustments - posture shifts, eye movements etc - and she never overplays anything either, and yet again, it’s all controlled instead of explosive.

Jack Quaid, though, is the one that will stay in your head, as he plays a very specific kind of modern male entitlement - the kind that hides behind logic and “reasonable” arguments - where he doesn’t sneer, he explains, calmly.

That’s so much worse, and I am sure we have all met that energy before.

The film thinks it’s clever. Sometimes it is.

There are moments where the script lands exactly how it should - sharp, uncomfortable, darkly funny - where I laughed a couple of times in that quiet, “should I be laughing at this?” way, which is always a good sign as far as I am concerned,

But I won’t pretend it’s subtle, because it isn’t, as all the themes are front and centre, underlined, highlighted, and maybe circled twice, so if you’re looking for layered ambiguity, this isn’t that, as it makes its point and stands by it.

Companion just stays so contained throughout - personal and focused - and I actually think that helps it, as there’s a discipline here with no bloated third act, and nor does it have any unnecessary moral speechifying at the end.

It says what it wants to say and gets out, with a power dynamic running underneath everything - the quiet negotiations, the assumption of ownership, and the way affection and authority blur into something transactional.

It all justfelt quite uncomfortably current.

Final Verdict

I liked Companion, and I respected it a lot, too.

It’s mean without being nihilistic, and clever without completely disappearing up its own metaphor, and while not every swing lands, it doesn’t miss wildly either.

It feels like a filmmaker who knows the tools and uses them with confidence.