Rating: 6/10
I’m going to put myself on blast — I’ve never had a girlfriend before. Never done anything romantic, never held hands, nothing. Is this because of some personal issues? Probably. But I’m very sure that I’ll have a girlfriend in the future.
Now, what will happen if I don’t have a girlfriend? Will I go about my life single? Will I adopt 50 cats to comfort my loneliness? I might.
But do you know what I’ll never do? Rent an A.I. girlfriend and have her sole purpose in life to serve me, much like what the main character Josh does in the new film “Companion.”
Directed by Drew Hancock, most notably a writer known for “Blue Mountain State” and “Fred 3: Camp Fred”, “Companion” presents us with Iris — Sophie Thatcher — a seemingly perfect girl for Josh — Jack Quaid — as they prepare for a weekend getaway trip with friends in the middle of nowhere.
Iris and Josh are a match made in heaven. The film starts off with their meet-cute as they awkwardly set eyes on each other in the fruit section of the supermarket. From there, love blooms, and they are madly in love with each other.
Fast forward to the present, and they’re at their friend’s mansion ready to relax and have a great time together — or so they thought.
One morning, the mansion’s owner tries to force himself onto Iris while they’re relaxing at the lake. She’s obviously uncomfortable with it and tells him to stop. He doesn’t.
She hits him with a glass bottle in self-defense, and he retaliates by strangling her. She finds a pocket knife in her pocket and stabs him.
She goes back to the mansion in shock at what has happened, drenched in blood. She encounters the rest of the group — including Josh — and they’re scared of what she’s done. Josh is trying to piece together what has happened, and she tells him everything.
He then tells her to go to sleep, and she shuts down.
Josh then has to tell Iris that she isn’t a real person, she’s an A.I.-powered “emotional support” robot, rented by Josh to be by his side.
If I’m going to be honest, I already saw this reveal from the first five minutes of the movie. The dialogue isn’t very good; the film tries to make it as obvious as possible that she doesn’t belong with the rest of the people in the mansion and that something is off about her. If winking to suggest something was a film, this would be it.
Not only are a lot of lines of dialogue laughable, there are too many messages that this film presents. Is it a commentary on A.I. usage in our everyday lives? The struggle of the working class in a capitalist society? Or how about the loneliness of men in an advanced technological society?
It seems to be all of these issues but doesn’t give enough material for us to really think about any of them in a deep and meaningful way. You can’t just have a throwaway line about capitalism and check off that social commentary box. We need more and that can only be done if you are focusing your attention on one of these topics, not all of them.
This movie is very entertaining, though.
My attention was held throughout the entire film. Even though some of the dialogue is unlistenable, the plot is tight and fast-paced. As the film weaves through the many plot twists it’s very exciting to see what’s going to happen to Iris.
The acting also helps the movie be as entertaining as it is. Thatcher and Quaid are an excellent pairing. Lukas Gage is also fun to watch as the rest of the ensemble is trying to figure out what to do with the situation they’ve been presented with. Casting up-and-coming actors like Thatcher and Gage in leading roles is great to see, and I’m excited to see what roles they take on in the future; hopefully something as fun as this.
A decent thriller coming out in February is unheard of. Usually, this time of the year is for films that performed badly at test screenings and need to be released to get them off the studio’s hands. But “Companion” is here, and it’s a great trip, as long as you can excuse the terrible dialogue and the convoluted messaging of the film.
Joshua Abraham is a kinesiology junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
