Companion, the film about relationships that you should go see at the cinema
Surprises, twists, manipulations, dream girls and frustrations, a bit of splatter, a bit of suspense, sharp humor and a lot of adrenaline: give it a vigorous stir and you’ll get the recipe behind Companion. Released in cinemas on January 30, the film is written and directed by Drew Hancock and stars Sophie Thatcher as Iris, Jack Quaid as Josh, Lukas Gage, Meghan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend as Sergej, Kat, Eli and Patrick.
Companion, the plot
Iris is a girl in love, so in love that she immediately declared that the best days of her life were two, one of which was when she met Josh, her boyfriend, for the first time. She remembers it as if it were now: she was shopping at the supermarket when she found herself in front of this handsome and clumsy guy who, in order to get an orange, made such a mess that it would have been impossible for her not to be moved and then look into his eyes and burst into laugh together.
From that first look, Iris’ heart began to beat for Josh and the two are now inseparable. In fact, we find them at the beginning of a weekend in the countryside with friends. His lover and their friend Kat, together with the couple Eli and Patrick, invited them to the large lakeside house of the ambiguous Russian Sergej.
Josh recommends himself before entering the villa with Iris: “Don’t be weird, don’t be depressed, smile, be happy”, commands rather than advice, at the beginning of a weekend than in his mind, and without the knowledge of the girl, involves much more than relaxation and long walks. In fact, Josh has a diabolical plan, studied with Kat, Sergej’s lover, which in order to be carried out involves guiding Iris to do what they want but don’t have the courage to do.
When Iris scores, however, something goes wrong. Iris is not only his girlfriend, she is a highly advanced technology robot, which he uses to satisfy all his desires, but also with the most refined machines, especially if made in the image of human beings, short circuiting, awareness and, finally , rebellion, in this film become a risk that is always around the corner.
Companion: comedy, adrenaline and twists
Josh is dissatisfied with his life, and decides that there is only one way to have the girl of his dreams: buy a comfort robot, a machine built with the specific aim of giving emotional support to humans who are no longer capable of socializing , nor to do many other things. A not so science fiction hypothesis, given that in several places in the world, for example in Japan, this type of highly sophisticated robot already has a thriving market. However, Iris is truly Josh’s dream woman in all aspects, because it is he who not only commands her what to do, but also shapes her every characteristic.
In appearance obviously, but above all in intelligence, which for the ideal woman is kept below sufficiency, then character, strength etc. Josh’s ideal woman is docile, obedient, totally manipulable at will and he can lead her to do anything, including atrocities and crimes. However, when Iris discovers the truth and understands that she is not what she believed, but something that has reason to exist only for the purposes of her buyer, the unforeseeable happens: an awareness that blows the plugs and makes Iris finally, totally, human , with her survival instinct and her desire to rebel, despite being “set” by her master. Will he succeed?
The film is the story of this adrenaline-filled, at times crazy, and unleashed rebellion, with twists, splatter aesthetics and funny jokes. The tone that prevails is in fact that of lucid and bitter comedy, in a story made up of manipulation, deception and frustrations of the character of Josh who, the further it goes on, the more he discovers in all his selfishness and in all his irremediable human baseness, while Iris and, despite being who she is, seems to be much more comfortable with the concepts of emotion, feelings, loyalty, morality.
A fun and surprising film, waiting to be discovered.
Rating: 7.5