Companion
Rating: 3/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
Companion was marketed as being from the twisted creators of Barbarian, which was one of the best and most shocking horror films of the past couple years. Therefore, it genuinely excited me for this film as I thought Barbarian did a great job of really capturing this absurd and twisted horror story. Yet, even though it is impressive as Drew Hancock's first feature film debut, the movie simply just doesn't work for me that well. I didn't think it was bad at all, but the entire story felt so predictable and didn't excite me much at all; it felt like a genuine "turn your brain off" type of film. However, it does make me wonder if the movie would have worked a lot better if the second trailer was never released.
The movie follows Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), a couple who is going on a mini retreat with some friends in a cabin in the woods. They think it will be a nice and relaxing vacation before things go totally off the rails, leading to bloodshed and murder. It's hard to not go into more spoilers to reveal more of the plot, but I want you to be surprised if you haven't sene this movie yet.
On a broad level, considering the entirety of this film, this movie doesn't do much to really captivate me. A film should make you feel certain things when watching it, and this truly doesn't do anything for me. In fact, it sort of reminded me of one of those films where you can turn your brain off and go see this mindless film, and enjoy some of the kills here or the jokes that are sprinkled throughout. But, I never felt terror or anxiety in the way that this movie should make you feel.
Here's the problem though, and one that makes me wonder why I didn't feel anything when watching this film - they simply revealed the plot twist in the trailers and the promo. I think the film would have had a near-perfect plot twist, one reminiscent of Barbarian, but for some reason, they deemed it necessary in terms of marketing when they could have left it out. This unfortunately ruins part of the film and the joy of watching it, which is really disappointing here.
This shouldn't make you automatically assume that this movie is bad by any means; I did enjoy most of what this movie did. I thought it had a really good idea and they did execute it to the best of their ability. At the same time, with this being the feature debut of director Drew Hancock, it's a very respectable and good breakout into the filmmaking scene. I just wish it had a little more and had some more of the wow factor that I think the movie definitely needed.
However, in terms of the performances here, I think they're quite good. Thatcher gives a fantastic performance as Iris, and really shows her embody this character that is not only on the run, but trying to figure out who she truly is at the same time. While Thatcher has been garnering fame and attention with her other roles and projects, I think this might be the movie that could elevate her to star status. In terms of the other actors here, I think they all do a good job complimenting Thatcher's performance and helping move the film along.
Quaid is hilarious at parts, and really does a great job of playing that boy-next-door gone bad. He is really starting to come into his own here in terms of his acting ability and where he performs the best. I really enjoyed him in this movie, and thought that he was casted perfectly for this role. In terms of Megan Suri (Kat), Lukas Gage (Patrick), and Harvey Guillén (Eli), they all do what they needed to, but they are sort of wasted in terms of their potential and I wish we saw a little more from each of them.
The cinematography and the effects are fun and really add more to the film. I think they capture some of these shots so beautifully and some really stand out to me here. They are able to capture beautiful shots of horror and gore, some that work so perfectly in the constraints of the film. At the same time, with the plot twist coming towards the middle of the movie, they start to use a lot of effects on the characters and to move the story along in this semi-futuristic world, which I thought was a lot of fun.
This movie, while being a fun watch for the most part, was simply disappointing for me. I thought the performances and different filmmaking aspects were done quite well, but the story was simply not there for me. I feel like they could have done a lot more, as well as containing the huge plot twist surprise spoiler that was teased throughout the trailers. Perhaps with a more complex and bold story, and with better marketing, this could have been a really good movie.
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