Companion (2025)

Dir: Drew Hancock

Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillen, Rupert Friend

This hilariously dark and unpredictable feminist thriller will keep you guessing ’til the very end despite revealing its biggest twist way too early

Having stated in my recent review for Mel Gibson‘s underwhelming, by-the-book thriller “Flight Risk”, January and February have come to be known as the cinematic graveyard. It has become common practice for major Hollywood distributors to release their least trusted projects at the start of a new year, knowing that most general audiences are less likely to attend given their negative cash flow over the busy festive period. This usually results in poor box-office numbers at the turn of a new year, with both critics and audiences usually panning projects that even distributors have little-to-no faith in.

However, the odd hidden gem occasionally manages to make its way into the January line-up, where it can capitalise on the uncompetitive market in order to overperform at the box-office, establishing itself as one of the year’s best films prior to the major releases in the summer months. One such potential sleeper hit scheduled for a wide release this coming Friday is American horror film “Companion”, which I was fortunate enough to catch early at an advanced screening over the weekend. Made on a modest budget of $10 million dollars, the devilishly clever thriller has the potential to be the biggest and best cult film of 2025, repeating the success of previous January horror releases, most notably “M3gan” in 2022.

Produced by the team behind the genre-bending, rug-pull that was “Barbarian” (2022), “Companion” is the brain child of directorial debutant Drew Hancock, who got his wholly original script greenlit by New Line Cinema in 2023. Hancock, whose previous filmmaking credits predominantly consist of TV shows and music videos, has clearly set out to make his own unique entry in the ever growing sub-genre of the anti-patriarchal thriller. From the outset, depicting our central couple’s dreamlike first encounter, there are clear visual homages to the iconic supermarket scene from the 1975 feminist horror “The Stepford Wives”. The similarities between “Companion” and Bryan Forbes‘ cult-classic do not stop there, and those who have already seen the all too revealing trailer, will already have an inkling as to how the first half of this dark and twisty thriller plays out. It is a prime example of overmarketing, where a film’s most notable plot twist is given away in advance. Other films that have fallen victim to this reckless marketing ploy include M. Night Shyamalan‘s 2024 thriller “Trap”, and to a degree the aforementioned “Flight Risk”, where Josh Hartnett and Mark Wahlberg are revealed to be killers in their respective films. Luckily in the case of “Companion”, Hancock’s script is punchy and twisty enough to keep the surprises coming, even after the early reveal of its most impactful plot device.

Following their fairytale meet cute, the immediately smitten Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) are cordially invited to a picturesque lakeside retreat belonging to mysterious wealthy Russian Sergey (Rupert Friend). Also in attendance is the jovial Eli (Harvey Guillen), his endearing partner Patrick (Lukas Gage), and Kat (Megan Suri), Josh and Eli’s close friend, who is also Sergey’s current mistress. Being new to the group, Iris is made to feel like an outsider, with Kat and even Josh being particularly cold towards her, while seedy sugar daddy Sergey continuously admires her from afar.

As the weekend’s festivities unfold, a sudden fatal incident results in the group quickly turning on a scared and confused Iris, who finds herself fleeing the luxurious lodgings, with the pursuing Josh tracking her down believing her to be responsible.

Those, like myself, who had the first major twist ruined for them prior to seeing “Companion”, do not be too disheartened. While it would have made for an astonishing reveal, one that looking back is evident through various interactions between Iris and the supporting characters, the narrative is not solely reliant on the one major twist, hence why it is revealed before we even hit the half way mark. Despite knowing this not so secretive plot point, I still found myself second guessing as to how the film’s sprightly and unpredictable second half would play out, with Hancock cleverly switching from a cabin in the woods styled Horror, to an almost Hitchcockian noir caper. It is a far cry from the formulaic Hollywood fodder that usually dominates the “dump months” at the start of the year, and hopefully its strong early buzz can propel it to the top of this weekend’s box office.

To add to its continuously shifting narrative, “Companion” manages to explore themes surrounding greed, entitlement and control without taking itself too seriously. This darkly comedic tone helps us connect with the increasingly despondent Iris, who struggles to accept her new life without her dear Josh. This initial naivety in her character will no doubt resonate with many, particularly those who are familiar with, or have been subjected to, gaslighting or patriarchal manipulation. Thatcher, best known for her role in television series “Yellowjackets”, continues to raise her profile following a star turn in the recent A24 horror “Heretic”, currently setting herself on a path to become a modern day scream queen. Her meticulous physicality, comedic timing and ability to freely flip her emotions on the spot elevates her character to the point of believability, in a film that could otherwise come across as silly or horrifically misjudged (i.e. “Don’t Worry Darling”).

The small ensemble cast all play up to the films carefree demeanour, with Guillen and Gage as the loved up Eli and Patrick delivering some of the funniest lines, as they too struggle to comprehend the crazy situation they have suddenly found themselves in. Quaid is also excellent as the obnoxious and smarmy Josh, who once again plays the role of “worst boyfriend of the year” following his villainous turn as Richie Kirsch in “Scream” (2022). In fact, he also follows in his father Dennis’s footsteps, who too recently garnered acclaim for his role objectifying women in Coralie Fargeat’s Oscar-nominated body horror “The Substance”.

Even for those certain individuals who see modern feminist thrillers as being too “woke”, there is still plenty of joy to be had with “Companion”, outside of its central feminist themes. It is a dark, hilarious, and original horror-thriller that will appease most cinemagoers, and I cannot recommend highly enough, particularly during the bleakest time of the year for our beloved cinema chains.

Again, I cannot reiterate enough how much more you will get out of “Companion” by going in completely blind, hence why I have not posted an accompanying trailer. Unfortunately having seen the trailer myself in advance, I was not granted this opportunity, but thanks to Hancock’s shrewd and darkly comedic script, I was still kept on my toes from beginning to end.

Companion is showing in UK Cinemas from Friday 31st January

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