Jane Yermakov

“Companion” is a dark comedy ready to make you laugh, gasp and root for the non-human.

When my mom and I want to escape the world, which we love to do every now and again we go to Alamo Drafthouse, our preferred movie theater of choice. When life becomes all too much, there’s nothing quite like losing track of time for a few hours to watch a good or hilariously bad movie, all while stuffing your face with an order of loaded fries and popcorn (my personal pick). Alamo always does an excellent job of showing really entertaining trailers before your movie starts, and when we saw the preview for “Companion” while waiting for a different film to begin (“Heretic,” in case you were wondering), well, it was a no-brainer that we had to go see it.

“Companion,” released in January and written and directed by Drew Hancock, is a rated-R dark comedy film about a woman named Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher, and her “relationship” with Josh, played by Jack Quaid. The movie starts off with love-struck Iris reminiscing on her time with her boyfriend and how they met. The couple is driving in Josh’s bougie, AI-powered smart car and it’s revealed that they are going on a vacation with Josh’s friends, one of whom being Kat (played by Megan Suri). Kat’s “situationship,” named Sergey (played by Rupert Friend), owns the isolated lakehouse they will be staying at.

When the couple arrives, we get to see the interesting dynamics between the friend group. Kat, mentioned earlier, clearly has something against Iris but is on great terms with Josh. Eli (played by Harvey Guillén) and Patrick (played by Lukas Gage) are hovering around the kitchen together, making it clear they are a couple as well. Sergey is the odd one out in the group—a suspiciously rich Russian man who owns all of the land around the lake and is cheating on his wife, who is nowhere to be found, with Kat? You would be correct in assuming this man has some questionable values.

That night, the group enjoys a dinner full of delicious food and dancing to “Boy” by Book of Love. This brings me to one of my favorite things from the movie: the music. As a sucker for finding new, good music, the soundtrack of the film really elevated the movie that much more. The visuals of the movie are also stunning. With the forest, the lake and Sergey’s house, I could probably watch the movie with no sound and still be mesmerized just by the setting and cast.

The next morning, Iris decides to head down to the lake (initially intending to go with Josh, but he conveniently had to cancel). After spending a few minutes there and conveniently finding a pocket knife in her shorts, Sergey arrives. Sergey, being the misogynistic creeper he is, tries to pull some moves on Iris. This ends, for lack of better words, poorly for Sergey.

Iris, panicked and terrified at what Josh and his friends might think of the situation, runs back to the house to explain herself, the first twist of the film is revealed and it’s rather… robotic. This turn is unfortunately already divulged in the trailer, but I will do a better job at keeping a secret than the marketing team did.

The rest of the movie is filled with a similar exciting and winding plot with more surprises than I expected. It has everything needed to cook up some good drama: betrayal, a fatal game of hide-and-seek in the woods, a strong and intelligent female lead, hysterical humor and of course, love. Eli and Patrick carry my favorite sublot in the movie and easily take the cake for being the funniest part of the movie, particularly Eli.

Besides the blatantly-told plot being incredibly entertaining, I found that my favorite thing about the movie was the irony and “hidden” message. “Companion” is not only a funny thriller, but is also a commentary on the type of man who thinks he deserves everything. Not all men, but you know the type—the guy who’s mad at everyone but himself because his life didn’t turn out the way he wanted or expected it to, even though he never did anything in the first place to deserve it. It was delightful to watch him fall apart and to watch the woman he hurt begin to thrive and love herself, and I believe that note on self-love and value should be the main takeaway for anyone who watches “Companion.”

The cast had phenomenal chemistry and their performances were all superb. I’m particularly obsessed with Sophie Thatcher, and after seeing her in “Heretic” as well, I am just so excited to see more of her in Hollywood. Jack Quaid also performed insanely well, proven by the fact that I still want to punch him in the face every time I see him.

Going into this movie, I had completely forgotten what it was going to be about. As many trailers are at fault for these days, almost the entire plot of a movie can be deduced from the teaser trailer. Thanks to my poor memory, I went into the film blind, and I would recommend this approach to anyone interested in seeing the movie. It is highly unfortunate that all the jarring twists are basically already known to the watcher before even walking into the theater, had they just watched the trailer before their showtime. So, don’t watch the trailer, I beg!

From leaving my mom and I laughing into our drinks to hearing gasps across the theater, “Companion” was an extremely fun watch. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or work of insane production, but it was still very high-quality and, in my opinion, a must-watch of 2025 (yes, I know the year has relatively just begun, that’s how good it is). I honestly wasn’t expecting to enjoy this movie as much as I did. I knew it would be a leisurely way to spend my evening, but it really did leave a lasting impression on me.

“Companion” gets a very loving 8.9/10 from me.