Companion (2025)
Iris (Sophie Thatcher) in Director Drew Hancock’s, Companion (2025)
On January 27th I took part in AMC Theaters Scream Unseen event, where they do an advanced screening of an upcoming horror film. You go in completely blind with the exception of rating (it was Rated R) and runtime. Only having both to go on, I had my expectations to 1 of 3 choices. Heart Eyes, Monkey, or Companion. As the lights dimmed and everyone began to settle into their seats that frigid Monday evening, the film began suddenly.
At the first reveal Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), I just knew we were in good hands for the next 90 minutes. Companion is a film that manages to surpass expectations of what it’s meant to be, and establishes itself as one of the hallmarks of its horror/comedy subgenre.
The directorial debut of Drew Hancock, sets its tone early as what begins as a sweet romcom, begins to gradually build itself into something more sinister, but not in how you think. In a clever twist of perspective, Iris, the companion robot for Josh begins to show growth into becoming more human while the humans around her, Josh and his friends Sergey (Rupert Friend), Kat (Megan Suri), and Eli (Harvey Guillen) begin to devolve into something more monstrous.
The most startling change is from Josh. Jack Quaid’s evolution from dorky, quirky romantic interest, to a fragile broken sociopath one of the standout performances of the film. Partly because the subtle changes in his face throughout the film. The charming, empathetic features from duller, colder until the climax of the film where Josh is completely broken.
Lukas Gage also delivers a standout performance as Patrick, who’s equal parts endearingly charming and also offers one of the standout deaths in the film, with brutal efficiency.
Though, really, it is Thatcher’s performance as Iris that drives the film from its leisurely beginnings to its satisfyingly brutal conclusion. It’s easy to believe that anyone could fall in love with Iris, her childlike innocence and matter of fact approach to what it means to fall in love with someone, the viewer instantly begins to sympathize with her and is rooting for her pretty much as soon as she appears on screen. Thatcher brings warmth and soul to the soulless machine she’s portraying, even as those around her begin to lose theirs.
What Drew Hancock has accomplished in his debut, with Companion, is show you don’t need a high body count or buckets of gore to make a horror film fun. Don’t get me wrong, the Terrifier trilogy is one of my favorite on-going film series in the last decade, but Companion showed me a horror film can be just pure, comfort food-level fun.
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
