People complain that there aren't any original movies anymore - everything is a sequel or based on IPs like games - but when something different does come along, they don't seem to go see it. Such was the case with Better Man (which grossed ~$20M on a $110M budget) and now the modestly successful (though poorly marketed) Companion. Considering how generally mediocre movies are these days - especially the dreck being nominated for Oscars - it's nice to be able to recommend a good one for a change, though you should take my word for it and not watch the spoilerific trailer.
It opens with Iris (Sophie Thatcher, Heretic) at a supermarket musing in voiceover that the two times in her life she was happiest were the day she met Josh (Jack Quaid, The Boys) and the day she killed him. (Well, that's a statement of purpose if there ever was one.) We watch them meet cute in the produce section as he causes an avalanche of oranges from the bin.
Then we see her waking up in their car as they head deep into the woods for a weekend with friends at what one described as a rustic little cabin which as Jack notes is none of those things as it's a modern mansion owned by Sergey (Rupert Friend, Homeland). Also attending are Sergey's mistress, Kat (Megan Suri, Never Have I Ever), Eli (Harvey Guillén, What We Do In The Shadows) and his partner Patrick (Lukas Gage, Fargo). Iris is worried that Kat hates her and Kat does throw shade, but in general everyone has a great time, getting drunk and dancing.
The next morning, Iris goes down to the lake and is joined by Sergey who proceeds to try and force himself on her. Back at the house, the others are waking up and then shocked to see Iris covered in blood, trying to explain what had happened. Jack commands her to go to sleep and her eyes cloud over and she freezes revealing (to those who didn't see the trailer) that she's a robot. Dun dun DUHN!!! Many hijinks ensue.
I'd known about the twist before watching it, so I was spotting all the tells about Iris and the remarks Kat and Sergey made toward her. But I was thankfully unaware of where the story was going and that made for a kicky fun ride. Sure, it's got elements borrowed from and reminiscent of Blade Runner, I, Robot, The Terminator, Her, Ex Machina, The Stepford Wives and the dreadful Subservience, but it mixes and matches the pieces into something fairly fresh if familiar.
Thatcher is a fresh up-and-comer with her roles here and Heretic as well as playing the young version of Juliette Lewis's character in Yellowjackets, whose voice Thatcher's sounds a lot like here while her look is what the missus described as "Goth Zooey Deschanel." (I went with a cross between Thora Birch's and Scarlet Johansson's characters in Ghost World.) Keep an eye on her starting here.
Writer-director Drew Hancock makes a smart feature debut here, investing the story with its own thoughts about the nature of love, control, identity and self-determination. Even when it's being a bit too familiar or tropey, he keeps things on the level. He was the co-creator and sole writer of a great little series that only ran 8 episodes called My Dead Ex (currently streaming on Paramount+) which you should check out.
Score: 7/10. Catch it on cable/streaming.
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