Content warning: This article includes mention of physical violence and sexual assault.
Though innumerable films attempt to provide social commentary about the state of our world, some fall flat, offering little else but weak attempts to garner social validation. It’s often unclear if the message is genuine or if the movie is a ploy to put more money into a faux activist’s pocket. Sometimes, however, these movies can be surprising—their discussion of societal problems may be surface-level, but they are enjoyable and empowering films at the same time. It’s an odd dichotomy that lends itself to the question: Is performative activism excusable? Can we let a movie’s activist efforts be superficial and just accept it for what it is?
Companion (2025) is a sci-fi thriller film starring Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) as an over-the-moon-in-love couple on a romantic getaway with their friends in the secluded woods. Things go awry for the group when Iris kills Josh’s friend Sergei (Rupert Friend) after he sexually assaults her. After the murder, it is revealed to Iris that she is not a human girl but a companion robot that was bought and programmed to be his loyal girlfriend, forcing her to serve his every need. Upon hearing that Josh intends to shut her down and send her back to the company that made her, Iris runs away, and a wild goose chase ensues. As she spends more time in the outside world, Iris realizes her desire to be her own person and to leave Josh behind.
Centered around Iris’s journey to claim autonomy, the film points to the sexism still prevalent in our world; while there are male companion robots, the real heart of the story centers on Iris’ experience as a woman made to serve and how she rejects these expectations to develop her own identity. Although the story’s message has the potential to be an effective vessel for female empowerment, it feels a bit underdeveloped. It takes the message, “Sexism is bad!” and repeatedly throws it in your face until you feel like a toddler. It is surface-level in its exploration of Iris’ experiences and fails to tackle the more nuanced details that would make its message compelling, making it feel like a performative attempt to explore sexism in our world. While Companion is a captivating thriller, focusing on the relationships and development of the characters rather than cheap thrills could make the story shine. Instead, it feels like more than half of the movie is spent in the woods with characters making quippy jokes and shooting at a robot.
Part of the reason this movie feels so action-focused is its runtime. The film is only an hour and 37 minutes long, which feels short considering the hefty runtimes of some films in theaters nowadays (*cough cough* The Brutalist). While it is a refreshing change of pace from longer works, the film would have benefited from a longer runtime and a deeper exploration of certain relationship dynamics. Patrick and Eli, for example, are a gay human-robot couple in Josh’s circle of friends. I enjoyed the genuine love they had for one another, but I would have loved to see more time spent on their relationship and their all-male power dynamic. Is there still a power imbalance between a person and a robot when sexism and gender difference don’t play a role?
Another relationship I found myself wanting more of was one between Iris and Josh’s female best friend, Kat. Despite Kat seeming to hate Iris and using her in her scheme to steal her boyfriend’s money, Iris never returns Kat’s animosity. She feels sympathy towards her and is often worried about her well-being, despite Kat’s alliance with Josh throughout the film. It’s an interesting display of unreciprocated female solidarity and one that I think could’ve added a deeper meaning to the movie if expanded upon. Short movies are great, but there’s a fine balance of conciseness and coherence.
Another part of the movie that I think falls short is how it handles Iris’ sexual assault. Later in the movie, it is revealed that Josh encouraged Sergei to attempt to assault Iris as he knew that in response she would kill him, leaving all of Sergei’s fortune to Josh and his friends. Josh uses the assault as a way to motivate Iris into action and is not at all affected by this choice. The movie itself never explores the way being assaulted might affect Iris, or reflect poorly on Josh, and instead treats the assault as a necessary plot point to kick the film into action. There could have been more merit in exploring how this encounter sticks with Iris throughout the film and compounds her desire to be free—objectification and violence go hand in hand—or how it weighs on the people who encouraged Josh. The film had the opportunity to explore how humanity, sexism, and loss of autonomy intersect, but it ultimately fell short. For a film that tries to comment on women’s struggles and sense of self within the world, it bungled a critical scene.
While the film had intriguing elements, it could’ve been a lot more satisfying to watch if it leaned more into the horror themes it teases. The film was marketed as a horror film but spends a lot of time in the action realm with its high-speed chases. Though it has suspenseful moments and a fair share of gore, I expected to find the movie scarier, considering the film came from the same people who made Barbarian (2022), a thoroughly terrifying thriller. Seeing Jack Quaid genuinely fear for his life as Iris retaliates and threatens his life could have been a satisfying moment, considering how much of a jerk his character was. Instead, there wasn’t a scene that fostered that fear, and most of the scarier moments were filmed in a way that kept all of the focus on Quaid, not necessarily exploring Thatcher’s emotions and struggle for power. The shift away from Iris’ “villain arc” left audiences dissatisfied at the film’s end. Using horror techniques to emphasize the central issues of the story would have bettered the pacing of this otherwise stagnant film, especially because it markets itself as scarier than it is.
In light of all of its flaws, the saving grace of this movie is Thatcher’s performance as Iris. While Quaid gives a good performance, Thatcher takes the cake. Despite playing a humanoid, she conveys a human-like complexity in her emotions as Iris, and audiences can truly feel her difficulty grappling with her identity and desperately trying to be free. Her facial expressions are raw and moving, and in a rather comedic film, she brings us back to the real, lived experiences of women. In particular, she skillfully shows us a stark contrast between when she’s in control of her body and when Josh is, making for an eerie experience watching her switch between the two. I would watch this movie over and over again if it was just a highlight reel of Iris’ scenes. She was perfect.
However, the strength of Thatcher’s performance may actually be a detriment to the movie. It pushes the film into this genre of “movies that are way too bad to have these actors in them.” I would consider Don’t Worry Darling (2022) in the same realm, with Florence Pugh’s performance knocking everybody else out of the water. These stellar performances are unfortunately a disservice to the movie because they create such a sharp contrast between the actor’s talent and the rest of the movie’s mediocrity. While this is never the actor’s fault, they end up highlighting some of the biggest flaws within the film.
Despite the multiple flaws within Companion, I couldn’t help myself from feeling empowered at its end. Seeing Iris drive away with a suitcase of stolen money as a completely free woman brought me inexplicable joy, and I found myself forgetting all of the film’s performative shortcomings. It wasn’t a reaction I necessarily expected, but one that says something about the current state of movies in our world. Sometimes, what people need most is a movie that makes them feel good without having to think too hard. We love a happy ending that makes us feel a bit better about ourselves. I think this movie will resonate a lot with general audiences, simply because it doesn’t dive too deep into the bigger themes and seems to convey an easier message. It’s witty and pokes fun at some of the stereotypes in our world today, like the “nice guys” who think everybody is against them despite being handed countless opportunities.
While these easy-to-watch movies can be a good thing, I don’t think that was the aim of this film. The movie seems to struggle with figuring out what it is, teetering between a comedic, straightforward movie and one that makes deeper commentary on our world. I think Companion had a lot of potential to be the latter but fell short on several aspects. While performative movies can sometimes make for a more thoughtless, enjoyable experience, I do think that films need to decide their angle from the get-go and make that angle clear for a more enjoyable experience.
