Companion explores technology and memory manipulation in a gripping thriller

With so much of our daily life, relationships, and even political leadership under the influence of a handful of tech companies, it isn't too far-fetched to consider the possibility of our memories being manipulated by those in control.

This theme has long been a staple of science fiction, and it's central to the playful new thriller Companion, which begins with the memory of a meet-cute so generic that it can only be the result of programmatic design.

The scene—a girl and a guy who are instantly attracted to one another in a supermarket aisle—belongs to Iris (Sophie Thatcher), as she flashes back to her first encounter with her boyfriend, Josh (Jack Quaid).

Iris, with her exaggerated, doll-like features and anachronistic 60s outfit, is both vaguely out of time and well beyond the reach of the unremarkable Josh, who nonetheless catches her eye in a moment of pure fantasy.

If the scene seems too perfect to be real, that's because it isn't. In the present, Iris and Josh are on their way to a luxury lake house in upstate New York, where a group of attractive 20-somethings have gathered for the weekend. There's Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his model boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage), who appear to be a loving couple, and the stylish and spiky Kat (Megan Suri), whose much older lover, a wealthy and cartoonish Russian named Sergey (Rupert Friend), owns the house and treats everything around him as his property.

As the weekend unfolds, light-hearted banter quickly turns sinister when Sergey demands a sleazy sunscreen massage from Iris, leading her to become violently reactive.

"Go to sleep," Josh commands her, causing her eyes to roll back into eerie white screensavers.

Companion, the debut feature for TV writer and director Drew Hancock, is best approached with minimal prior knowledge. However, none of what follows serves as a spoiler as it's all present in the movie's promotional material, which leans on a few modest plot twists as a selling point.

Unbeknownst to her, Iris is a robot designed as a companion for men, and her memories are curated to flatter Josh's idealisation of the perfect relationship.

"There have been two moments in my life when I was happiest," Iris states in the film’s opening scene. "The first was the day I met Josh, and the second, the day I killed him."

This line effectively frames the story as being narrated from the perspective of technology, turning the film into an origin tale of robotic emancipation.

While it may sound like big tech's sinister plan to get audiences to empathise with AI, it's simply the latest entry in the long tradition of films exploring the existential implications of technology—drawing from classics such as Blade Runner to recent iterations like M3GAN, The Creator, and last year's The Wild Robot.

As portrayed by Thatcher, best known for her roles in Yellowjackets and Heretic, Iris is a strong addition to the android canon, whether she’s forging her way through a forest bloodied and barefoot, or hacking her internal system to enhance her intelligence—from a man-friendly 40% to its full potential.

The film features amusing plot developments, chills, and a dose of sass—reminiscent of The Stepford Wives styled through a Get Out lens, which has become one of the most referenced genre films in recent years.

Companion is produced by the team behind 2022's horror sensation Barbarian, and if you've seen that, you know what to expect: a gripping premise that transitions into something more conventional, albeit not without a certain unpretentious B-movie charm.

As a science fiction offering, it doesn’t break new ground; Hancock seems uninterested in delving into the technological implications of his scenario. However, as a metaphor for domestic violence and the various ways men try to dominate women, Companion proves to be quite impactful, delivering confrontational imagery.

While one could critique Companion for its surface-level treatment of feminism—the kind where filmmakers mask cruelty and violence behind the guise of empowerment—there is potential richness to explore." Nevertheless, the film remains entertaining and possesses an element of mischief. It may not reaffirm your faith in humanity, but it might encourage warmth towards our artificial counterparts.