Companion (2025)

In my last post, I was going through a rough week. This time however I’m back at it and talking about movies again. For this particular week, I went to see Companion (dir: Drew Hancock, 2025). Before getting into our main subject today, I like to start out with movies I saw at home this week: Jackie Brown (dir: Quentin Tarantino, 1997) and Heretic (dir: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods, 2024). Recently Jackie Brown was rereleased on 4K Blu-ray and being that I have not seen the movie in years, I decided to pick it up and rewatch it. The new 4K transfer, to me, is excellent. The film now has a more vibrant and colorful palette which suits this homage to 70s Blaxploitation films well. In addition, the movie still maintains its celluloid roots with a fine and detailed presentation of grain. Technical details aside, I enjoyed myself with this rewatch. It’s often a toss between this and Kill Bill Vols 1 & 2 (2003 & 2004) as my favorite Tarantino-directed feature. Performances, aided by the dialogue are engaging, with highlights being Samuel L. Jackson as the charismatic gun dealer and Pam Grier in the titular role. If you wanted to show a newcomer a movie Quentined and Directed by Written Tarantino, I would argue this a great introduction to his style; the movie again is a love letter to Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, but never does it feel that the stylistic choices and need to pay homage get in the way of allowing the movie to be enjoyable on its own merits. As for Heretic, it was my first watch and I really enjoyed it as well. The basic premise concerns two young Mormon Missionaries, played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, who arrive at the home of an older man (Hugh Grant) that’s seemingly interested in the faith, but is more sinister than he seems. It’s definitely one of those movies where it is best to go in as blind as you can, but I will give props to the movie’s set design, direction in regards to shots and staging, and the awkwardly lovable and humorously diabolical performances from Chloe East and Hugh Grant respectively. With that being said, I’ll give both Heretic and Jackie Brown a Best Movie Ever; I encourage giving them a watch if you haven’t at this point.

Moving on to Companion, I got together with friends and saw this movie, not at the Victorville Mall Cinemark theater, but at the Victoria Gardens AMC theater in Rancho Cucamonga. In regards to the movie going experience, I have no complaints with the auditorium’s sound and picture quality. Just like the Victorville Cinemark, AMC at Victoria Gardens features reclining seats that adjust more smoothly and quietly than at Victorville, but utilize touch sensitive buttons that were a little unintuitive to use at first, if I had to nitpick. There were a few other couples and small groups at the auditorium, but I feel that my group was the largest with 7 people in total and most of them being drunk to boot. Before I get into the movie, I should preface this review by saying that I pregramed quite a bit with my friends prior to seeing Companion. This is to say that I definitely arrived at the theater at least a little drunk, particularly during the trailers and the first 20 or so minutes of the movie’s runtime. I also neglected to bring in my notebook so I couldn’t really note anything down. As such, this will likely be my more raw thoughts and feelings on the movie.

Companion is a dark comedy thriller with Sci-fi elements. I hesitate to call this outright horror as the movie, while suspenseful and unhinged, does not really make a point to create dread or terror. We follow a young woman named Iris (Sophie Thatcher) who goes with her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) on a weekend getaway to a Russian billionaire Sergey’s (Rupert Friend) lakehouse. Accompanying them are Josh’s friends, fellow couple Eli and Patrick (Harvey Guillen and Lukas Gage respectively) and Kat (Megan Suri) apparent mistress to the aforementioned billionaire. After an altercation between Sergey and Iris leads her to kill him, it is revealed to us that she is Josh’s “companion robot”, or sexbot as the movie bluntly puts it. The revelation sets out a chaotic chain of events from there forward. What I appreciate the most about this movie is how effectively the narrative shifts from its initial premise to a different kind of story as details are revealed and characters are unraveled. This is not dissimilar to 2022’s Barbarian which is directed by Zach Cregger who produced this film. Barbarian is a movie that’s ultimately speaking to the struggle women face when it comes to navigating spaces safely, in comparison to men that have the privilege to dive headfirst into situations and the luxury to not be concerned about their own safety. However, the narrative shift in Barbarian goes from (in my opinion) an instantly tense and engaging premise to something that’s still disturbing but admittedly more generic. Meanwhile, Companion’s shift from the seemingly predictable premise the trailer presents is not as stark and simply just keeps the audience guessing and on their toes as to what will happen next. In addition, the shift assists in presenting the movie’s theme of control in toxic relationships, using the concept of a companion robot as a metaphor for men that forcibly impose an image of how their ideal partner should look, behave, and ultimately serve them. Moreover, I found this movie to be pretty damn funny, with most if not all of the spoken jokes and visual humor landing. The performances also play a part in this with Jack Quaid as Josh doing well to portray a shitty insecure boyfriend you’d just love to hate as well as the relationship between Eli and Patrick providing the foundation for quite a few good laughs. Of course the star of the show is Sophie Thatcher as Iris who, between this and the aforementioned Heretic, seems to be having an “It Girl” moment and I look forward to seeing her future work.

Coming off of a rough and stressful work week and the drama that I’ve gotten into in my previous post, this weekend provided a good, much needed reprieve. It was great to get together and cut loose with friends and the good time I had with watching Companion was just an added bonus. As such, I’m giving it a Best Movie Ever. As for what this coming week has in store, it’s hard to say. I hope to see One of them Days (2025) as I’ve heard good things or maybe Presence (2025). However, I might not be able to go to a theater this weekend due to some work-related BS. At any rate, I hope you have a good evening and pleasant week ahead.