Companion (2025)—Finding Identity and Genuine Feeling within A.I.
It’s no secret that there are plenty of lonely, bitter young men out there. And it’s also no secret that they’re turning to the possibilities of A.I. to fill that lonely hole in their hearts. But what they don’t realize is that they’re often not looking for a partner, they’re looking for someone to control. But what happens you’re A.I. partner starts wanting more from their life? What happens when they start thinking for themselves? Drew Hancock’s Companion explores just that.
Josh (played by Jack Quaid) and his girlfriend, Iris (played by Sophie Thatcher) are planning on spending the weekend with Josh’s friends Kat, Eli and Patrick up at a mansion owned by a shady Russian businessman named Sergei. Despite Iris’ concerns about fitting in, all goes well on the first night. However on the second day, things go amuck when Iris kills Sergei in self-defense after he made a sexual advance towards her before attempting to strangle her to death when she refuses. When a distraught Iris tells Josh and his friends, Josh gives her the command to “go to sleep”, causing her to shut down.
So, in the wise words of M. Night Shyamalan, “what a twist!” Yes, Iris is a robot who’s designed to be a companion for lonely folks. Now before you start on how robots can never replace real people, that’s not what I want to talk about today. The truth is, artificial intelligence is already used to create romantic partners (just take a look at Japan for reference). Yet some lonely men are still struggling. Why? Because even an A.I. partner (especially one as technologically complex as Iris) still requires basic communication and ironically enough, human decency for the relationship to thrive. Necessary skills that these angry, lonely young men still struggle with, if not outright lack.
Take a look at Josh’s relationship with Iris. There’s a very clear and established power dynamic between the two. Josh is the one in control, while Iris is programmed to be his subservient girlfriend. While he looks like he’s got it all on the surface (having enough money to buy an advanced A.I. girlfriend and a car that is voice activated), he’s insecure, narcissistic and sees her and companion bots in general as mere tools rather than equals. The only reason why he brought Iris to the weekend getaway was so he could have her kill Sergei so that he can get his share of the wealth. Once he succeeds in his mission, he plans on scrapping Iris completely, despite her protests. He even sets her programming at a subpar level so that she can never challenge him in any way, for example, setting her intelligence at a meager 40%.
Now juxtapose this with the only healthy and wholesome relationship between a human and robot in the film: Eli and Patrick. Despite Patrick piecing together the fact that he’s a robot over the years, he stays with Eli. Why? Because Eli treats him as an individual with his own thoughts and feelings. And unlike Josh, he would never reprogram Patrick to be a totally subservient mind slave. If you ask me, even though Patrick isn’t real, his feelings for Eli are and vice versa. It’s rare enough that we get a wholesome and healthy relationship in Hollywood. But it’s even rarer to have that kind of relationship displayed between a human and a robot and I’m pleasantly surmised with this positive representation.
This isn’t the first film I’ve seen featuring a robot designed for human comfort. In fact, it’s not even the first movie that uses the concept of an A.I. companion. So what separates this movie from the many that have come before it? How it treats its A.I. companions. They’re not seen just as emotionless robots, comfort characters or secretly evil. Iris just wants control over her own actions and her own life. Sophie Thatcher perfectly conveys this, as she manages to balance on that fine line of robotic and emotional. Her subtle changes in inflection or expression really help shed a humanistic light onto Iris. Meanwhile, Jack Quaid as the ever so hate-able Josh came as a surprise to me as I’m usually accustomed to seeing him as the quirky do-gooder. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised, as he did play the asshole who killed Rue in The Hunger Games.
If you loved the idea of M3GAN, but wished it had more thematic elements from Spike Jonze’s Her, then I think Companion would be right up your alley. While it borrows elements from both, it really creates its own narrative by Iris be a three dimensional character rather than some murderous robot or manic pixie dream girl. Couple this theme of regaining control while exploring the complexities of humanism within the realm of A.I. with some stellar performances by both Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher makes Companion one of the best films I never saw coming!
