By People may forget it, but horror and comedy go well together. Like peanut butter and chocolate, while you wouldn’t think of pairing the two together, it actually makes a lot of sense. Horror movies can have some pretty messed up conflicts, so making light of them can help make them approachable. However, if you go too far in one direction, then it can be jarring when you shift back to the other. So with Companion billing itself as a horror comedy, there’s a high chance that it could have fallen prey to that shift.
Companion, thankfully, doesn’t really fall victim to that trend. It blends comedy and horror, but it doesn’t excel in either category. They never interfere with one another, but they never blend as smoothly as one would expect. Because of that, it makes Companion feel very middle of the road. It should elicit more of a reaction than it does, but sadly just isn’t able to.
Companion
Director: Drew Hancock
Release Date: January 31, 2025 (Theatrical)
Rating: R
Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) are a fairly standard couple on their way to a remote cabin in the mountains for a weekend getaway with friends. Everything’s fine at first, though Iris feels a bit uncomfortable being around some of Josh’s friends, like the always grumpy Kat (Megan Suri), and the lecherous Sergey (Rupert Friend). After a day or so, Sergey sexually assaults her and Iris has to kill him in self-defense, which leads to a spiraling series of events that leads Iris to try and survive not only from her supposed friends but from Josh, who is becoming increasingly cold towards her and willing to abandon their relationship for his own benefit.
Now if you’ve seen the trailer for Companion, or have missed any of the pre-release build-up for the film, then you’ll probably notice I left out the movie’s big twist, which gets revealed within the first thirty minutes of this 90-minute film. That’s because the film is best enjoyed going in blind. If you know what’s happening, the first half hour has some truly terrible writing that all but spells out what the twist is. Even if you don’t know what that subversion is, you’ll be clued in pretty damn quickly because of how clunkily the hints are dropped. I don’t know why the film attempted to hide this element because it basically flaunts it in front of our faces to an annoying degree until it decides to let us in on what we already know.
It’s not until that twist is revealed that Companion really gets going. Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher are able to really slip into their roles at that point since it’s very clear the two of them are restrained for the first third. After that point, they’re given much better material to work with, whether it’s the desperation that Iris has trying to escape from the vacation house or the matter-of-factness of Josh as he explains to everyone what’s going on and elaborates on the events unfolding.
Copyright: Warner Bros.
Speaking of, if there’s one performance that really makes the movie stand out, it’s Jack Quaids’. It’s entertaining watching him become more and more unhinged as the movie progresses, shedding his nice guy persona into what I can only describe as an “internet nice guy” with a dash of sociopathy. He’s a pathetic character who constantly fumbles his way through the film, but that’s what makes him so great. He’s a villain to be sure, but definitely one that feels relatable in 2025 and comes across as a person you can actually meet in real life. Harvey Guillen and Lukas Gage are also pretty great in their own way, as they play a gay couple at the retreat who also have their own secrets, but sadly don’t get enough screen time together.
For as good as the performances are, the comedy in the film never really becomes anything more than just okay. Jack Quaid’s bits are good, but it doesn’t change much throughout the film. Harvey Guillen is charming as hell, but the film doesn’t give him all that much to do. Sophie Thatcher gets the most screen time here, and while I enjoyed her performance in Heretic, she comes across as too robotic and understated to let me get invested in. Most of the horror of Companion surrounds her and her escape from the cabin, but outside of a moment or two, none of it registers. It’s like the film is struggling to decide whether it wants to focus on the thriller elements of its premise or lean completely into being a parody, but never fully commits to either
I do like the commentary the film makes about relationships, autonomy, humanity, and the need for genuine human interaction, but the film doesn’t expand upon its ideas in any meaningful way. It feels more like an imitation of better movies than its own original entity. I can name half a dozen movies that Companion either homages or tries to ape, but nearly all of the comparisons are unfavorable against it. At times, it feels less like a fully fleshed-out horror movie and more like a mediocre episode of Black Mirror. It doesn’t delve too much into its premise and is more interested in trying to throw in poorly telegraphed twists that it doesn’t always land. Plus by the time it ends, you feel indifferent to everything you saw.
Copyright: Warner Bros.
In fact, the film feels like it’s barreling through plot points and character moments to get to the end. To be honest, the rest of the supporting cast barely factor into anything by the end of the movie since this is all about Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher. I will say that the more the movie goes on, the better it gets, as it feels like it becomes a bit more focused by then, but it’s a bit too little too late. The twists lose their impact and you’re just wishing that Companion learns to focus on the ideas that matter and not the superfluous fluff.
It’s a shame because I wanted to like Companion more than I did. It’s fun at parts but gets too hung up on the little things. It wants to have these little jokes, little bits of gore, and surprise the audience with its twists, but in exchange, it makes its dialogue and delivery awkward as hell and never gets a chance to say something original. It thinks it’s more clever than it is, but thanks to the poor trailers, audiences know exactly what they’re getting themselves into. This is the perfect movie for people to discover in a year or two and be critically reevaluated. Because as it is, Companion loses itself in the details.
