Companion
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 5 stars)
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which words with opposite meanings are used in conjunction, such as ‘dark comedy’ or ‘deliciously twisted’. This is how to describe the debut director Drew Hancock's Companion: violent and unpredictable but hilarious and romantic. This unconventional love story contrasts light and dark, so the film shines like a horrific fairytale about revenge, love, technology, and freedom.
On its surface, this is a relationship movie about Josh and Iris, played by Jack Quaid (Oppenheimer) and Sophie Thatcher (Heretic). Eager to introduce his newfound love to his long-time friends, Josh takes Iris on a weekend trip to a lakeside estate for a cosy reunion. After a violent altercation, the young woman realises that she isn’t actually a real person, but instead a robotic companion. As Iris comes to terms with her own identity and the group struggles to figure out how to resolve the situation, she sets off a series of events that very quickly spiral out of control unpredictably and violently.
From the outset of this review, it is worthwhile acknowledging that this film does contain brief scenes of graphic violence; it also features heavy use of sexual references and imagery throughout. Most of these are played for comedic effect except one intercut scene of a character forcing themselves upon another, which is brief and not gratuitous. Trying to pigeonhole this film into one particular tone or genre is incredibly difficult. Still, much like our romantic relationships with those around us, it wouldn’t do it justice either. From the trailers alone, Companion has a great sense of irony and self-awareness (something Iris lacks initially), marketing itself as cutesy, pink and romantic, including a slide explaining “From the studio that brought you The Notebook”. This tone is present throughout the film and, by far, its biggest strength. Filled with enough romantic indie songs, flashbacks to first meetings and “It’s not you, it’s me”, that’ll have fans of romantic comedies giggling and laughing alongside scenes of violence and commentaries on modern relationships and evolving technologies.
Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher perfectly capture the romance and horror over the film's breezy hour-and-a-half runtime. Especially Quaid, whose character twists and evolves throughout the story but never feels unrealistic or exaggerated. The supporting cast also stands out, with special mentions to Harvey Guillén and Lukas Gage, who bring a lot of comedy and a candid story about love and truth. Despite having brief scenes of violence and even briefer scenes of actual terror, this film sits in the black comedy camp more so than the horror camp. As mentioned above, the cast’s performance brings a lot of laughs. Still, the real humour comes from the story's absurdity and ironic romantic undertones.
Although it contains a couple of leaps in logic and missed opportunities, Companion is a playfully deranged tale about how we relate to technology and each other, set against the backdrop of a romantic comedy. The cast delivers satisfying performances, both horrific and humorous, leaving the audience laughing and cheering the whole way through and perhaps even questioning their own sense of identity.
Reel Dialogue: How will artificial Intelligence affect the future of humanity?
John Lennox and Robert Martin discuss how artificial intelligence used to belong to the realm of science fiction but is already changing how we shop, work and live. Should we embrace this or be concerned with the growing influence of AI technologies? On the Bigger Questions podcast, they ponder the future of humanity and where technology could take us.
Be sure to listen in on the full discussion on the Third Space website.
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