Companion (2025)

Stepford Wives meets Short Circuit in this new horror comedy featuring a sexbot that might be more human (or humane) than the humans it is surrounded by. Right from the jump, Companion makes clear Iris’ status as a robot. Her boyfriend/owner (actually renter) instructs, “Wake up, Iris,” and Iris awakens. They are almost at their destination: a couples weekend trip at a house in the woods with Josh’s friends. Iris is worried about Josh’s friends not liking her, but that will be the least of her concerns, as unbeknownst to Iris, Josh has been messing with her programming (which she doesn’t even know that she has). 

After a violent encounter with Sergey, the host for the weekend, Iris is told the truth about herself. She argues that it is impossible because she has memories and emotions, and she feels pain—all of which Josh explains is her programming, reinforcing his point by adjusting her settings on his cell phone. He plans to reboot and return her, so now she has one goal: self-preservation. According to Asimov, a robot must protect its own existence as long as that does not conflict with the first two laws of robotics: the robot cannot injure a human being and it must obey orders. However, when you jailbreak your sexbot, Asimov’s laws for robotics go out the window, so there is nothing holding Iris back as she fights for her own continued existence. 

This is a fun, smart film with some great surprises, laugh out loud moments, and a good dose of gore. The villain Josh (Jack Quaid) is truly awful and the way he treats Iris (Sophie Thatcher), sexbot or not, underscores his white guy entitlement. Josh’s friend Kat (Megan Suri), who is dating the cartoonish Sergey (Rupert Friend), complains to Iris that she is nothing but an accessory for Sergey, one that he could easily replace. The only seemingly healthy relationship in the film is that of Eli (Harvey Guillén) and Patrick (Lukas Gage), whose Halloween party meet-cute leads to a lasting relationship—though not without its own surprises.

Iris’ drive to survive has her adjusting her own programming—increasing her intelligence, adjusting her voice to activate Josh’s car, and thinking her way out of a difficult situation with a cop since she is programmed to always tell the truth. Despite Iris’ ability to change certain aspects of herself, she remains vulnerable to Josh, who uses his power over her to torture her. However, Iris prevails, scratches off her broken skin, and gets her number-five-is-alive moment as she drives off into the credits, exposed metallic robot hand waving at the cars she passes by. 4.5 out of 5 sacs of blood.

—Gina Myers