A weekend getaway turns bloody and violent when a subservient android that's built for human companionship goes haywire. With all the talk going around of Al and robots replacing humans as both work servants and sex objects, director Drew Hancock's Companion is a surprisingly thoughtful sci-fi thriller with some bone chilling social commentary. At only 97 minutes, Companion offers up a fast paced experience, wasting no time establishing who its few characters are, their motives, and how these androids factor into the overall machinations of the story. Jack Quaid (Josh-human) and Sophie Thatcher (Iris-robot) are fantastic and have terrific chemistry with one another, as I was fully convinced of the lie that is their relationship. Quaid is able to completely sell himself as this greedy and selfish man who doesn't even care about Iris, who has been programmed to love him literally at first sight (as shown in the film). The movie makes you ponder the morality of how one would treat a companion robot in real life, and the potential harm it can cause both humans and the supposedly unfeeling android. Great supporting characters as well, with Harvey Guillen (Eli) and Lukas Gage (Patrick) as the gay couple example of a human/android relationship (I won't reveal who's the android).
What I appreciated most about the actual androids themselves was how realistic they're portrayed. Each one establishes a "love link" with whomever their buyer/partner is, with programming of fake memories, including all the good times they supposedly had, and especially the day they met. Thanks to Thatcher's strong performance, she never acts too robotic or overly fake, adding a layer of curiosity to the character of Iris as she questions the reveal of her being an android. The main problem with the film is actually shown in the trailer, which blatantly states the fate of a certain character. In the film itself, this is one of the first lines of dialogue and I will admit that it took away a little of the suspense. What makes up for it though, are the unexpected and oftentimes shocking kills or revelations of specific intentions each character has while they stay at this ultra rich guy's house. As the film progresses, the plot itself becomes a lot more complex as the motives of every single character becomes clearer, so this isn't a cut n' dry "human bad" or "robot bad" story, but instead a social commentary warning the viewer of the dangerous implications of having these "Companion" bots in the real world. We have seen this done before in other movies, but none have explored the intricacies of love relationships between humans and robots like this one. This was a fun little sci-fi romance thriller. It provides enough of a cautionary tale about the risks of having lifelike sex androids as an alternative for human relationships while not overstaying its welcome. I even liked the ending, which surprised me. Overall, although the film suffers from dropping a major reveal too early, Companion is still an above average sci-fi romantic thriller with strong performances from Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher that makes the viewer ponder the dangers and moral questions of having robots as relationship partners in the real world.
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