A robot thriller with the right programming.
Here’s a little “Stepford Wives” for you. A young woman named Iris (Sophie Thatcher) walks down the grocery store like a robot, which apparently she is. Actually more like a companion robot, “An Emotional Support Robot That F***s.” But she doesn’t know she is one, although I’m surprised she hasn’t figured that out yet.
It also becomes a little bit of “Bewitched” when she meets the human Josh (Jack Quaid) after an awkward encounter at the store. It becomes love at first sight, even if he knows she’s a robot.
“Companion” starts off sweet and innocent, and it continues very dark and wildly entertaining. I remember less than a decade ago, when “Morgan” was about a humanoid girl grown in a lab and going berserk. That was a very bad movie, and I’m thrilled I haven’t heard about any cult followings. And literally a decade ago, we had “Ex Machina,” Alex Garland’s opus with Alicia Vikander playing a humanoid A.I, which was a smart and riveting movie. Now the genre needs to break some new grounds. So, let’s give “Companion” some romance, some comedy, and some murder. I’m sold.
They go to a lake house with their friends: the jerky Kat (Megan Suri), the gay couple Eli (Harvey Gullien) and Pat (Lukas Gage), and the house owner Sergey (Rupert Friend). Kat hates Iris so much that she has Sergey sexually assault the companion robot, who retaliates by killing him. This sets off a chain of reactions which involve truth reveals and more murder. And it also allows the companion to see the independence inside herself. And what would happen if she took Josh’s phone and set her intelligence level to 100%?
“Companion” was written and directed by Drew Hancock, whose background includes TV shows like “Blue Mountain State” and “Suburgatory.” And it was also produced by Zach Cregger, who stepped up his game with “Barbarian.” Their first collaboration refuses to take the most obvious approaches and delivers with the right attitude, the right consistency, and the right programming. It questions about whether or not robots can overpower their programs, and what human qualities they can possess.
Thatcher continues to give herself a name in the horror genre, coming on the heels of “The Boogeyman” and “Heretic,” and in the role of Iris, she expresses facial expressions and dialogue on a timely basis. The posters make her look creepy, but she isn’t the bad guy. It’s whoever programmed her who’s the real villain. And I admire how she thrives against him.
Quaid also does some entertaining work as her human boyfriend (that is if we can really call him her boyfriend), and his charming appeal hides his character’s insecurities on an honest scale. And I also admire the supporting work from Gullian and Gage, and what unfolds in their relationship.
Not every question about the robot gets answered, but there’s a lot to acknowledge, especially since we’ve seen this type of thing before. I recall that even though we admire the beauty and visuals of Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” some of us felt disillusioned by its conclusion and the direction it took towards that. “Companion” is a shorter film (running at about 90 minutes), but it isn’t rushed. It does everything it can to take the genre on a new level, and believe me, there will be blood and laughs.
It’s funny, because this week, a Sci-Fi romantic drama called “Love Me” also comes out. It features a romance between Kristen Stewart as a buoy and Steven Yeun as a satellite after the apocalypse. I saw it virtually from the Sundance Film Festival, and I thought it was a weak splice between “Wall-E” and “Her.”
“Companion” is obviously the better movie to see if you wanted a new Sci-Fi movie with risks. This one takes a lot of them. I think I’ll stick with finding a human girlfriend. Thank you.