'Companion' Review- Who Is Artificial
Pathetic loser rents a robot.
Companion is a science fiction thriller written and directed by Drew Hancock. It was developed by BoulderLight Pictures and New Line Cinema before it was released by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Josh (Jack Quaid) brings his girlfriend Iris (Sophie Thatcher) to meet Sergey (Rupert Friend) at his estate in the woods, the Russian boyfriend of their friend Kat (Megan Suri). When they arrive, Kat seems tense around Iris, even as their friend Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his partner Patrick (Lukas Gage) try to lighten the mood.
After a night of partying, Iris goes to a nearby lake, only to be accosted by Sergey, whom she kills in self-defense. When she explains things to Josh, he reveals that she is a robot companion, leading to a much larger conspiracy being unraveled.
Sophie Thatcher was incredible. She portrayed Iris with reverence and compassion, making her seem, dare I say, real. I have seen several of these AI and robot films that try to give the synthetic beings souls. While I cannot say this one won me over, Thatcher’s performance gave me empathy for Iris as she navigates the plot she finds herself in.
The rest of the cast does a fantastic job as well. Quaid is once again on top of his game, and I found his role to be subtle and sinister. Everyone else is excellent and truly sold themselves in their respective roles.
My only problem with the movie is that it tries to insert some dark humor into the plot. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes, I felt that the humor was more of an annoyance. It needed to focus on being a thriller just a tad bit more instead of trying to make gory jokes.
Outside of that, this is a film with an original take on the robot goes murder-bot. It shows you how AI can desire to be human, but also how humans can lose their humanity. You lose track of who is real and who is artificial as the events unfold before you.
It had this theme of weaponized love and how it is used to take advantage of someone who is a bit naive or perhaps blinded by that love. It made for a compelling story with lots of twists and turns to keep you hooked.
Bottom line, Companion has plenty of thrills. You question who is human and who is artificial as you navigate the plot. Not to mention, Sophie Thatcher truly shines in the role of Iris.
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Bloody violence, Strong foul language, Sexual content
FAVORITE QUOTE: Most of the time it's like... I don't know. It's like there's this thick black cloud covering everything. Like we see the world, but we don't really see the world, you know. We're all just stumbling around directionless. No sense of meaning, no sense of purpose.
Check out the trailer below:
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, anime, or novel you would like me to review.