Companion is a 2025 American science fiction dark comedy thriller film written and directed by Drew Hancock.

It stars Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid as a couple on a weekend getaway with friends at a remote cabin, which unravels into chaos[5].

Eli takes a gun from Sergey's safe, believing Iris can't truly be shut down while possessing Josh's phone.

They inform Josh that Empathix robots record everything they experience, and that their data storage isn't located in the head like a brain, and is instead in the abdominal area.

The next morning, she peels the burnt "skin" off her arm while bathing blood and dirt from the prior day away, exposing metal underneath.

[11] In June, Harvey Guillén, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Sophie Thatcher, and Rupert Friend were added to the cast.

[20] However, Deadline Hollywood reported on rumors that Warner Bros. had allocated only $10 million on television advertisements in the United States with iSpot indicating that they spent an even lower $830,000 on US TV, primarily on an NFL playoff spot.

[10] In the United States and Canada, Companion was released alongside Dog Man and Valiant One and was projected to gross $8–10 million from 3,285 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "A fiendishly clever contraption that doesn't rest on the laurels of its twists, Companion thrillingly puts the demented into domestic bliss.

"[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[25] The Straits Times's Whang Yee Ling gave it 4/5 stars, calling it "a darkly hilarious, outrageously entertaining satire on the abusive relationships of entitled misogynists like Josh, who uses and manipulates his women.

"[26] Kevin Maher of The Times gave it 3/5 stars, saying it was "essentially a 'robot girlfriend' movie (think Fritz Lang's Metropolis or Megan Fox's Subservience), but one that begins on astonishingly strong form", and praising Thatcher's performance.

[27] Stephanie Banbury of the Financial Times also gave it 3/5 stars, writing, "A robot that turns against its puny human controller is hardly a new idea, but the current anxiety around AI obviously gives Companion topical punch.

The colours are Barbie-bright, right down to the pink title sequence; writer-director Drew Hancock is similarly aiming to give us sexual politics in a popcorn box, but with added stage blood.

"[28] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian was more critical, saying, "the film is more sleekly made than it is thoughtfully written... with convenient inconsistencies, a short yet stretched runtime and a rather flat fight-to-the-death Terminator-esque finale leaving things on a so-what shrug.

Club's Jesse Hassenger gave it a C+ grade, writing, "Companion's observations about relationship power dynamics are mostly just Comedy Ex Machina with the faintest hint of Her, neutered with a very Big Studio approach to inherently kinky material.

"[30] Several reviewers have interpreted Companion as a critique of toxic masculinity, particularly in how it explores themes of control, entitlement, and gender dynamics.

Time's Megan McCluskey highlights the film's portrayal of male dominance over artificial intelligence, emphasizing the antagonist Josh's manipulation of the AI entity, Iris, as an allegory for patriarchal control in modern relationships.

However, Amante (2025) of Social Science of Sci-Fi+ argues that the film is better understood as a broader critique of transactional relationships rather than solely focusing on gendered power imbalances.

According to this perspective, individuals weigh costs and benefits in relationships, a theme that aligns with Companion's portrayal of both Josh and Kat as engaging in manipulative behaviors for personal gain.

This analysis reframes the film as a reflection on toxic relationships, dependency, emotional manipulation, and the commodification of intimacy in modern society, regardless of gender.