Review: Wait, no one told me ‘Companion’ — the movie about killer AI love-bots — was going to be a feminist think piece!!!

Drew Hancock makes his feature film directorial debut in Companion, a bloody sci-fi thriller about a lonely man named Josh (Jack Quaid) who rents a companion robot named Iris (Sophie Thatcher) to be his girlfriend and then uses her to get rich. The plot was ripe with possibility and extremely pertinent. Thankfully, Hancock did not disappoint.

Much has been said in the last couple of years about the “male loneliness epidemic” and about the rise of artificial intelligence. In many ways, the two overlap. Technology and seclusion feed off of each other as humans slowly unlearn how to coexist and become more dependent on their devices and meta worlds to keep them company instead — it’s both cause and consequence. Other exterior factors naturally play into the growing disconnect between opposite genders; nevertheless, the possibility for full control that AI provides will undoubtedly seem attractive to men who feel threatened by women’s rising independence and disillusionment.

The way the two concepts interact is less a straight line than a sticky entanglement, so Hancock’s clarity in laying out this toxic marriage is impressive.

If you’re reading this review before watching the film, one of the best things about it will have already been spoiled — the moment we discover that Iris is a robot. Though it will definitely still hold up for those who knew the gist of the story going in, there’s a special kind of penny-drop moment that happens for those who, like me, go into Companion completely blind.

We meet Josh as a run-of-the-mill boyfriend who treats his girlfriend with a balance of affection and dismissal that will feel incredibly realistic to any woman in the audience. You don’t really think twice about Iris being anything other than flesh and blood, because, yes, you’ve seen this dynamic a thousand times before — on screen and off. That’s how real men treat real women.

We’re told in the initial monologue that, for Thatcher’s character — narrating from the future — there were two moments that broke her out of modern life’s general stupor: the moment she met Josh, and the moment she killed him. Hancock isn’t interested in keeping the destination of this journey a secret, because he’s more concerned with the steps taken to reach it.

So, from that first scene, we’re immediately searching for the reasons that led Iris to want to kill her boyfriend, and there are plenty (even if only in gestation). He’s emotionally immature, frequently embarrassed of her in social settings, doesn’t reciprocate the pleasure she gives him in bed, and tells her to go to sleep when she tries to have a vulnerable conversation. Granted, all very irksome habits, but a break-up would suffice (and some screaming, for catharsis’s sake). Again, we assume his behavior will escalate to a point of no return if she is moved to murder, but it still feels like a very plausible direction for the story.

That’s the genius of what Hancock achieves in Companion. At surface level, it’s this kooky sci-fi story of a murder scheme involving sentient robots (that part we will keep unspoiled), but it’s very obviously also a cautionary tale about not treating your significant other with the respect they deserve.

The robot is a metaphor for the place men expect women to occupy in their lives, and Hancock makes this very clear throughout. Be it through Quaid’s occasional one-man pity parties, or the presence of an alternative — Josh’s gay friend Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his own companion, Patrick (Lukas Gage). The underlying, ultimately universal human issue of a misguided search for unbridled adoration is still there, but the queer relationship in Companion provides a different, more genuine approach to romantic relationships that goes beyond the need for control. The absence of a difference in gender seems to act as a balm for the complicated power imbalances of that dynamic.

The other side of Companion‘s proverbial coin is its dialogue with AI. Killer robots have been a staple figure in the horror genre even before man invented the first computer, but here Hancock asks, “What if they were the hero of the story?” It’s a daring question to pose in a medium, like cinema, where AI should very much be seen as the villain. It’s an open invitation to ditch the righteousness and be more open in our approach to something that isn’t going anywhere any time soon. I’m not sure the world is or should ever be ready to bite into that idea, but the writer-director’s decision to present it is all the more noteworthy for that.

Thatcher’s Iris is hard to define, considering her personality, looks, voice, and intelligence can all be manipulated through an app on a phone. Still, the film finds ways to build the character and make us care for her, using things like a clear sense of humor or an attitude of defiance before her condition. The actress, who’s quickly becoming a scream queen after her turns in 2023’s The Boogeyman and 2024’s Heretic, navigates those proclivities beautifully, catching the audience off-guard with a kind of piercing blue-eyed stare that could never belong to a robot (or so we hope).

The film’s ending purposes a world where women are free, but also where technology and humanity live in harmony and symbiosis. It packs a punch, and may be juggling too many ideas to see all reach fruition, but this rich framing ensures Companion‘s thrills are never cheap. They always serve a bigger purpose, while leaving enough room for each viewer to extract their personal interpretation of its themes. It’s also wildly funny at times, with jokes that will land especially well for female viewers and fans of both Goo Goo Dolls and Quaid’s famous actress mother, Meg Ryan.

All in all, this debut is a success for Hancock. An exciting, intentional ride with lots to say, even if some aspects get lost along the way, and it drags on just slightly. It’s also beautifully shot by cinematographer Eli Born, who makes the most of the film’s remote lakeside setting, presenting his own set of visual provocations about the coexistence of nature and technology.

Companion is somehow a film for the sci-fi geeks, the horror/slasher fans, and for frustrated men and women alike — that it could combine all of those elements together and still deliver a very solid film, regardless of the viewpoint, is its biggest win.

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