It wasn’t too many years ago that I’d have said I’m not into horror. I’d have said that horror is unpleasant or too unhappy — no fun at all. But now I know there’s nothing more fun than a wacky horror film with a sharp message.
“Companion,” is a new thriller that’s the first must-see film of 2025. It might not perfectly fit the horror designation, but it plays with some of the same tools. It’s a thrilling, twisty and bloody picture that clocks in at a brisk 97 minutes. I’d been excited, but “Companion” was a wonderful January surprise.
The film centers on Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher, and her boyfriend Josh, who’s realized in a remarkably nasty turn from Jack Quaid. The pair arrive at a secluded lake house for a weekend of fun with Josh’s friends that’s upended when Iris kills their host.
Trailers revealed more of the conceit than the film feels designed for — specifically a major early twist that’s worth discussing here. In short, “Companion” is a sharply entertaining critique of romance and connection in the contemporary world of smartphones and generative artificial intelligence.
Iris is an artificial companion robot — complete with programmed memories of a goofy meet-cute with Josh. She’s capable of conversing with him, providing for his needs and acting as a romantic partner. He sees her as an item and controls her settings with his phone.
Of course, Iris was programmed not to be able to do harm to a person, making her sudden experimentation with homicide a surprise to the other lake house guests.
A lesser film would cast Iris as a monster to oppose — a being like the Terminator for the heroic humans to vanquish. But Josh is no hero. “Companion” is a film about Iris’s emancipation from and comeuppance to the man who mistreated her.
The result is a lot of fun. Josh is, as previously mentioned, deeply unpleasant in a really fun turn from Quaid. There are also two other couples in the lake house, with Harvey Guillén and Lukas Gage as Eli and Patrick obvious scene-stealers. There’s also Megan Suri as Kat and her similarly not-so-loving boyfriend Sergey, played almost unrecognizably by Rupert Friend. Thatcher absolutely shines as the machine being at the heart of it all.
“Companion” balances hauntingly realistic depictions of unhealthy relationships with comic and satirical portrayals of digital love. It’s funny just as often as it’ll make the viewer squirm.
The film plays like science fiction, but there are people spending their time conversing with generative artificial intelligence characters today. There are interesting ideas here about what human connection looks like in a world where people are increasingly siloed away into digital spaces.
It’s also the kind of film that had me cheering “Good for her!” in the movie theater.
“Companion” is playing this weekend at the Kenai Cinema. Check showtimes and purchase tickets at catheaters.com.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
