Drew Hancock’s global hit Companion is one of those do-or-die slick-flicks which blend genres and bend the rules of mass entertainment. The unexpected is heaped onto the plot with such weird nonchalance as if to say that cinema is not about fulfilling expectations but building them.
This is not an unwatchable film by any stretch of the imagination. Writer-director Drew Hancock sucks us into the vortex of the blind-dating game and then charts out a living hell for his heroine Iris (Sophie Thatcher), who is taken by her new boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) to a posh farmhouse in the back of the beyond. Iris should have known better. But if she had, there would be none of the carefully constructed calamitous happenings that swiftly swerve the romance into the horror-thriller genre.
And yes, there is science fiction, too…oh yes! Iris discovers she is a robot companion to Josh, who finds out…and so on and forth….
The plot construct of constant surprises is a total giveaway. The mounds of the unexpected do not flow organically from the characters but seem thrust from the outside just to get our attention. Consequently, there is a sense of stymied outflow in the events. We are constantly watching the plot unravel itself in the desperate anxiety to have our attention.
There is also this unique, but not charming, blend of gore and cuteness. Or maybe it wants to pitch gore as cute. Hence, the characters feel like they have landed on the wrong planet. They speak of moonlight and love at first sight but murder each other with sharp instruments that spill spurts of blood onto posh carpets.
So, which genre does Companion belong to? It really doesn’t matter as long as we keep wandering across the dark stretches of this rowdy ride on the other side of the moon. The presentation is eye-catching, bright, and buoyant. The performances are strictly functional. The five principal players behave as though they suddenly landed up playing leads after auditioning for a chorusline presence in an off-broadway musical.
Admittedly, Sophie Thatcher, the survivor heroine of the romantic-horror-sci-fi melange, has a certain charm. It quickly wears thin under pressure as she falls prey to robotic influences. As a date movie advising caution to those who succumb to instant attractions, Companion just about catches the lapel of the fabric. Most of what goes on in Companion is instant gratification, as robotic as some of its characters.
