Companion Review: When a Script is Superb!

Leo Josse ’28 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer 

We are truly living in a horror renaissance. At a time when every movie playing in a theater feels like a sequel, remake, or reboot, horror has been able to pump out original content that satisfies and makes an impression on audiences. In the past year alone, we have received movies like The Substance (Fargeat, 2024), Heretic (Beck & Woods, 2024), Longlegs (Perkins, 2024), and so many more. We also have original horror movies to look forward to this year, like Sinners (Coogler, 2025), Death of a Unicorn (Scharfman, 2025), and Bring Her Back (Philippou & Philippou, 2025). As of late, horror is one of the only genres that has been successful in theaters with original concepts.

Drew Hancock’s Companion fits into that trend like a glove. 

A note to the readers before I get into the movie’s specifics: Companion is the kind of movie you want to go into completely blind. Don’t even watch the trailers. The movie is an incredibly well-written thriller that finds ways to reinvent the tropes of the genre. The film is rated R for “strong violence, sexual content, and language throughout.” Of these three things, the language is the most egregious. The violence is mostly brief flashes, and the sexual content is a blink and you miss it. There is no nudity. That’s all you should know going in. If you have any interest in seeing this movie, whether it’s a burning desire or a faint curiosity, stop reading, and just watch it. You can come back later. 

Spoilers and Images ahead.

Now that everyone who hasn’t seen Companion is gone, we can discuss why this movie is so brilliant. Many factors contribute to its genius, but at the core lies writer/director Drew Hancock’s script, which is shocking, timely, and hilarious. 

Starting with shocking, it is a horror movie. But the real shocks come with the movie’s twists. If you had seen the official trailer before going into the film, you would know that Iris (Sophie Thatcher) is a robot; the movie cleverly waits to reveal this until the end of Act One. This reveal completely turns everything that predates it on its head, but the movie is only getting started. Whenever you think you have the film figured out, it pulls the rug out under you. The twists just keep coming and coming. They manage not to be egregious—like the constant twists in 2024’s Argylle—and instead serve to benefit the narrative by authentically heightening the stakes without compromising the themes of the story. Hancock crafts the script like a magician, playing with misdirection. He only shows you what he wants you to see while leaving clues for the truth in the background. Then, when he finally reveals them, they’re shocking but believable and retroactively work to explain moments prior. As an avid moviegoer, I have garnered the ability to occasionally spot these tricks, as I had a hunch that Lukas Gage’s character Patrick was also a robot. But twists like Eli’s (Harvey Guillén) and Kat’s (Megan Suri) deaths caught me entirely off guard while working just as well to heighten the narrative. 

The most timely aspect of the film is the idea of a companion robot, which is appropriate for the rise of AI and big tech conglomerates consolidating power. Jack Quaid’s character Josh is also very timely, as he feels like a response to the modern-day film/tech bros. It’s clear he thinks highly of himself and sees no problem with his actions, and the movie makes it clear that when things go wrong, he’s quick to blame everyone and everything else for the screwed-up stuff he does. He never takes responsibility for any of the deaths, even though it was his actions that led to all of the chaos in the first place; he’s the one who jailbreaks Iris to allow her to kill Sergey (Rupert Friend). Quaid has said that when playing the character, he made sure to embody the belief that his actions were appropriate, as the character does not see himself as the villain. There’s even a moment in the film where Josh says, “I’m a good guy,” as he tortures Iris with fire. His character is so scary because it’s so real, as these people in real life tend not to see the problem with their actions. Quaid perfectly captures this energy, and it makes it so easy to root against his character. 

What this movie also does is take the concept of a companion robot, and makes it an allegory for the toxic relationship, and specifically the female perspective. Sophie Thatcher’s character is quite literally a sex toy, and the movie puts us in her shoes of discovering this fact and freeing herself from that. With the conversation around toxic relationships less taboo than it used to be, it’s great to see a heroine freeing herself from its clutches on the big screen. Movies like Don’t Worry Darling (Wilde, 2022) have tried to open up this conversation before but failed to connect the concepts of the story to its themes successfully. Thatcher’s performance also goes a long way to selling the themes of the narrative. She plays the journey from the naive robot to the independent free thinker exceptionally well. Iris starts the movie not even knowing she’s a robot programmed solely to provide the character of Josh love and affection, and by the end, she’s a woman who kills Josh out of self-defense and by her own free will. You can feel this shift in how Thatcher looks at Quaid, amongst many other deliberate acting choices. It’s really transformative, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. 

Companion is quite funny, although the humor never gets in the way of the horror or the drama. Instead, it adds elements of relatability and levity to the story. Each character has moments of humor sprinkled throughout, as there isn’t a designated comedy relief character. This really works for the story, as it allows for the movie to balance all the tonalities that it tries to convey. My favorite moment is when Josh is on the phone with Iris after she escapes with his car, and she says she wants to go their separate ways, prompting him to ask: “Wait. Are you… breaking up with me??” Imagine being such a loser that your sex robot decides to break up with you. It’s great to see Iris gaining autonomy, but since she still is technically a sex robot, the movie uses this context to frame the moment as the incredible low blow it is for Josh and plays it for a laugh. 

The script is also very clever in deliberately not showing us things. It’s implied that the movie takes place in the near future, but the logistics of the world are left to the imagination. It helps build the mystery and intrigue around the characters and their world. The end teases the larger world when Iris is driving and sees another version of herself with a different man. It’s also a clever way to leave so many doors open to future installments to explore. The story possibilities are endless because the movie leaves so many questions unanswered. We could see political thrillers or murder mysteries set in this world. A heist movie would be fun, with the robots providing a twist on the general tropes of that genre. We could also see more stories following Iris specifically as she comes to terms with her robotic nature, but turning this into an anthology franchise could be cool. 

The rest of the movie is solid, but nothing stands out like the script and performances. The production design and cinematography adequately convey this slightly futuristic world, but I didn’t find either very innovative with their approaches. The movie has a sleek look that I’ve seen in many other mid-budget modern movies and doesn’t do enough to visually differentiate itself from those other films. The few moments of cinematography that stood out to me were the fake memory scenes Iris and Patrick had throughout the movie, as the framing and coloring itself told a story rather than just existing because it is a movie. 

Companion is a fabulous display of Drew Hancock’s writing ability and the potential of actors Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. I can’t wait to see what each of them do after this. As a fan of The Boys, I look forward to seeing Quaid reprise his role in the show’s fifth and final season. Thatcher’s acting has been widely praised in the much-acclaimed TV series Yellowjackets, and many hope for a season 4. However, as a first-time writer and director, Hancock can shape his career after this movie in many ways. He would be a perfect fit for James Gunn’s DCU as his unique voice in writing fits the writer/director-driven movie slate that Gunn seems to be putting together. He could provide some unique and exciting takes on many different DC heroes. But I’d be equally happy to see him do more original concepts, whether that’s horror or not. God knows we need more original movies in Hollywood.