Companion

3.5
Love kills

The Plot: When Josh (Jack Quaid) has a meet-cute with Iris (Sophie Thatcher) in the supermarket, they’re immediately smitten with each other – just like in the movies. He whisks her away for the weekend to a country retreat owned by rich Russian Sergey (Rupert Friend) and his friends. Everyone is very friendly towards Iris… until they’re not. Following an incident, she finds herself prey to the most dangerous game and is hunted by them all…

The Verdict: When it comes to movies, it needs to be said that sometimes less is more. The first trailer for Companion was certainly intriguing, but as the release date approached a second trailer dropped… and it dropped a fairly large plot point that had previously been kept under wraps. A slow tease is more preferable for a film that has a lot on its mind, but studio marketing often has the habit of putting most of the film in the trailer (Flight Risk for example). Sometimes they even put the final shot of the film in the trailer (thanks, Dune Part: Two). Said plot point of Companion will not be revealed or discussed here, as it’s best discovered on its own. It’s enough to say that it’s an intriguing one and then has fun playing with variations of it. In the tradition of the horror genre, it then pursues its own Final Girl agenda to clever effect.

Companion is the twisted brainchild of one Drew Hancock, making his feature writing and directing debut. The filmmaking team is composed of the equally twisted minds behind 2022’s Barbarian – a horror film that promised a lot but actually delivered very little. So little in fact that it had no change to spare at the end. Thankfully, that is not the case with Companion. This is a film that, unlike its trailer, holds back for a while and drops hints at just what is going on between this supposed bunch of friends. It introduces Josh and Iris as the seemingly perfect couple, but the others look at Iris with some degree of suspicion. She’s a little too self-assured and eager to please. Hancock’s script is peppered with the kind of sparky, snarky dialogue that isn’t often found in these kinds of high concept films. Characters berate each other as much as they’re praising each other, to make it a weekend from hell wherein everyone is out for themselves. With friends like these…

Part of the film’s success is in the way it upends audience expectations, twisting and turning in how it approaches character development. There are multiple layers for each character here, even the smaller parts so that their motivations are unreliable. There’s a Hitchcockian undercurrent running through it which might have tickled the master of suspense himself, but updated for more current concerns. Hancock shows a genuine flair for the dramatics and thrills required, cranking up the suspense as Iris is hunted down and turns to fighting back in bloody fashion. It’s as if Hancock knew the plot requires some stretch of the imagination, so he layers in knowing humour to make it both silly and unpredictable – sometimes even in the same shot like when Iris makes her initial escape. Sophie Thatcher, building on her star-making turn in the superb Heretic, is delightful here as she turns the tables and then breaks them.

It’s not nearly as clever as it thinks it is though. Some dramatic beats are too under-played and needed a bit more impact, while some of the later shenanigans involving other parties come across as unnecessary late additions. Just watching Iris and Josh tensely face off against each other across a table is enough in itself, due to the conviction of Thatcher and Jack Quaid’s performances. As Freddie Mercury once sang, love kills… drills you through your heart – Hancock missed a trick by not playing it over the end credits. With its shifting plot gears, consistent tone of suspense mixed with laughs and an ending that feels earned, Companion is a lot of fun and is best viewed with an engaged cinema audience.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor

Companion
Love kills
Companion (USA / 15A / 97 mins) In short: Love kills Directed by Drew Hancock. Starring Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Rupert Friend, Lukas Gage, Harvey Guillen.
3.5
Love kills