Josh Reviews Companion

Companion opens with a meet-cute between Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) in a supermarket.  Some time later the two, now a couple, head to a weekend getaway with two other couples, Jack’s friends, at a remote house in the woods owned by the wealthy Russian Sergey (Rupert Friend).  Things go south pretty quickly, and this film is off to the races.

Companion is a terrific film, but it’s a tough one to write about, because I don’t want to spoil any of the film’s twists and turns.  The first major surprise was spoiled by much of the film’s marketing, so if you’re interested but haven’t yet seen this film, I advise you to try to avoid reading anything about it — just watch it and enjoy!  I was spoiled on the first major twist, but thankfully that didn’t negatively impact my enjoyment of the film.  I wish I didn’t know it, but knowing it wound up being OK, because I enjoyed looking for the breadcrumbs carefully hidden into the film’s first half hour.  I was also happy that there were many more surprising twists and turns in the film, written & directed by Drew Hancock in a heck of a debut, that I didn’t know anything about.

I loved how genre-bending Companion is!  There are aspects of a relationship drama, aspects of a horror-film, a dash of sci-fi, and even some comedy woven into the story!  (The scene in which Iris speaks German is a show-stopper that had me laughing out loud.)  Mr. Hancock has cleverly woven these different genres together to craft a film that I found delightfully entertaining from start to finish.  (At only 97 minutes, the film does not overstay its welcome.  Hooray for a film with a manageable run-time!)

I first saw Sophie Thatcher as a child actor in the spectacular (and criminally little-seen indie sci-fi film Prospect); she was terrific there, and she is extraordinary here.  Ms. Thatcher has to play Iris in many different roles throughout this film, and she is remarkably compelling as we watch Iris journey from shy wallflower to bad-ass, kick-ass heroine.  This is a star-making performance.  Equally great is Jack Quaid, for whom I am now a forever fan after five seasons of his joyful performance as Boimler on the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks.  (Mr. Quaid was also perfect when he brought Boimler into live-action on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two.)  I actually haven’t seen so much of Mr. Quaid’s other live-action work (he was solid as Richard Feynman in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer), but he blew me away with his work here.  As with Ms. Thatcher, Mr. Quaid has to play Josh in a number of different modes, from jovial goofball to scared to angry, and he is terrific throughout.  I knew Mr. Quaid could play a fun, goofy guy, but I was impressed how great he was when things got serious and intense.

This film has a small cast, but the rest of the gang are all terrific as well.  They’re each called upon to portray a variety of different layers to their characters, as the film’s story unfolds and we gradually peel back the onion and learn more about who each of these people are.  Lukas Cage is extremely memorable as Patrick, who appears like a secondary character at first but really steps into the forefront in the film’s twisty second half.  Megan Suri plays the intimidating Kat to a tee.  Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) is endearing as Eli, who starts off as comic relief but who, like each of these characters, exposes deeper layers as the story continues.

Well, actually, they all expose deeper layers except one.  Rupert Friend (The Death of Stalin, Asteroid City, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jurassic World Rebirth) is hilariously one-note as the wealthy, slightly mysterious, mullet-sporting and bathrobe-wearing Russian Sergey.  This is a perfectly attuned performance, very silly but just grounded enough not to feel out-of-place in the film.

I want to highlight the film’s costume designer, Vanessa Porter, because the outfit she created for Iris to wear on the weekend getaway becomes a memorably iconic look.  Actually, each and every one of Iris’ outfits in the film are perfect — including the ensemble she finds herself in during the film’s third act, as well as the outfit she picks out in the film’s final moments  These outfits are all simple but perfectly effective, beautifully expressing character and creating an extremely memorable visual “hook” for Iris and for the film.  Bravo!  (Click here for a terrific interview with Ms. Porter about her work on the film.)

I’m sorry I missed Companion when it was released to theaters earlier this year.  I’m glad to have seen it!  I recommend you give it a try.

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