January may be on its way out, but the first big Hollywood horror movie of the year has arrived. I’ve had Companion on my radar since that incredible first teaser for the film where, without any context, the first images from the film saw Heretic’s Sophie Thatcher immolate her arm while sitting across from a rather smug-looking Jack Quaid. The teaser then leaned into its producers, noting that the New Line Cinema-backed film had Barbarian’s Zach Cregger producing. After a deep breath at the end of the trailer, Companion was firmly seated amongst the most highly anticipated horror films of 2025.

Let’s start with the simple setup. Josh (Quaid) and Iris (Thatcher) are a loving couple on their way to spend the weekend with friends at an isolated lake house. The clear chemistry between the couple allows the film’s early scenes to flourish as Iris’ last-minute doubts about spending the weekend with Josh’s friends attempt to take hold. Patrick (Smile 2’s Lukas Gage) and Eli (What We Do in the Shadows’ Harvey Guillén) seemingly put her at ease, but the strange chemistry between Josh and Kat (It Lives Inside’s Megan Suri) quickly captures Iris’ attention. From their first conversation, it’s clear that Kat doesn’t like Iris. But the remarks she makes to Iris are double-entendres, cluing in the audience while allowing Iris to assume Kat’s jealousy is finally out in the open.

What’s there to be jealous of anyway? Kat seems to have found companionship with Sergey (Hitman: Agent 47’s Rupert Friend), the owner of this illustrious, multi-million-dollar estate. That is until Iris has a run-in with the handsy Sergey on the beach, altering the course of the weekend for her and the others.

Before we dive into Companion, I want to issue a warning. The less you know going into the film, the better it’s going to be. Companion is very similar to Barbarian in plot structure. If you’ve seen Barbarian, you know that the writers keep it fresh by allowing twists to happen early in the process, almost concurrent with the audience’s emerging theories. Companion is very similar in that regard. While I think many of the film’s surprises have already been given away through the subsequent trailers Companion received, I want to respect anyone who may have come this far without finding out anything, so I declare that the rest of this review may contain basic spoilers for Companion.

I tried my best to avoid the trailers, TV spots, and Instagram reels, but New Line’s marketing for Companion was persistent and aggressive. It was difficult not to see something. If it wasn’t a video, I saw one of the various posters with different objects on them decisively stating what was “not a Companion.” Though these images seem abstract, they are making an inference –one confirmed when watching the later trailers for the film. Iris isn’t the object of Josh’s affection so much as she’s just an object to him or, more precisely, a robot. While it may not be a spoiler if you’ve seen the trailers, it is one of the film’s first big reveals, which the marketing ousted to its detriment.

Robot love interests aren’t an out-of-the-blue concept. Hell, Ira Levin’s The Stepford Wives and Michael Crichton’s Westworld both considered it when they emerged in 1972. And, Let’s face it: we’re living in a male-dominated hellscape where two rich a**holes get to decide the Orwellian laws that usher in the next chapter of this Margaret Atwood novel we’re living in America. Women’s rights have been stripped, the government has turned its back on LGBTQ+ identifying people, and technology has little to no oversight. It’s only a matter of time before some tech bro shows off a machine for incels to fetishize. Though some may utilize such a device with care, most will revert to their more primitive natures. And if certain men aren’t responsible enough to play well with humans, they’ll likely treat machines even worse. That’s where Companion approaches from—these megalomaniacal grips of possession and control.

Still, while we remain at the precipice of that technology, we currently have apps that allow for similar instant gratification. Beyond swiping right to achieve romantic entanglement, we also demand that our goods be on our doorstep within forty-eight hours, a car to pick us up when we want to go somewhere, and food on demand. Our insistence on having our every need satisfied before the thought ever occurs to us is breeding a generation of indignance and entitlement.

As the film starts, Iris reveals her meet-cute situation with Josh while rolling down an aisle of a supermarket. Keen film enthusiasts will note the similarities to the last frames of 1975’s The Stepford Wives, in which the dolled-up duplicates exchange greetings in their Sunday best. Companion enters as if it’s continuing The Stepford Wives story, and it fits nicely into Companion both thematically and narratively as a resurrection of the same cries for women’s liberation. But what happens when a manipulated duplicate wants the autonomy to escape their possessor?

Companion tackles numerous heavy concepts while grounding many of them in a familiar slasher narrative. The film is a wild ride—twisty, bloody, occasionally funny, and full of surprises. It hardly lets up and manages to effortlessly keep viewers entertained, especially when one false move could derail its tone. But even if the movie is daring in some aspects, I can’t shake the feeling that Companion is somewhat of a rehash of several other films we already have.

Many themes and ideas overlap with Alex Garland’s Ex Machina and another recent iteration of The Stepford Wives, Don’t Worry Darling. Additionally, there’s a wave of emerging independent AI thrillers, like Wifelike and Subservience, that draw similar parallels regarding male dominance, the objectification of women, and abuse. Companion’s stylized horror approach will undoubtedly make it one of the more referential movies in this genre, and it should spark intriguing discussions concerning women’s rights, the moral and ethical dilemmas of AI, and the gray areas in Asimov’s laws.

In all fairness, my experience watching Companion was somewhat chaotic. A fire alarm interrupted the film at a pivotal moment, forcing the entire theater to evacuate. While it was necessary for safety, it certainly hindered the movie’s ability to build tension. This incident might explain why my impression of the film is rather lukewarm. However, one aspect I genuinely enjoyed was witnessing a man further down my aisle become increasingly upset over the movie’s outcome, muttering his criticisms of the director under his breath and audibly huffing through the credits. That moment brought me pure joy and is the kind of reaction Companion aims to satirize. I think that’s just one of many fragile male complaints we’ll hear about this one. Companion may not be perfect, but it definitely gets its point across.