'Companion is the killer robot movie that M3GAN desperately wanted to be'

I confess I was a little disappointed when I saw the full trailer for Drew Hancock's Companion. Its first teaser had been a masterclass in mystery, painting the perfect, enigmatic picture of a dark romcom with a horror edge. The full trailer let the cat out of the bag, or so I thought, with its revelation that Sophie Thatcher's character was actually an illegally-enhanced robot companion. Fortunately, the film has way more in its locker than that.

To spoil too many of Companion's twists and turns would be wrong, but it's important to lay out the basics of the plot. Josh (Jack Quaid) brings Iris along to a get-together with his friends at a luxury home owned by shady Russian dude Sergey (Rupert Friend). Soon, everything hits the fan and Sergey ends up dead, with Iris covered in his blood. Josh must now decide whether to come clean or conceal the fact that he has spent money on an illegal chip to "jailbreak" Iris and access hidden settings.

From this point on, Companion hits the accelerator pedal hard. It's a twisty-turny ride of chaotic revelations and gore-soaked set pieces that consistently has the power to surprise, balancing its bloodletting with dark comedy and gruesome slapstick. In that sense, Companion achieves exactly what 2022's viral Blumhouse hit M3GAN set out to do — but it does it better.

Just like Companion, M3GAN is a horror-comedy with a killer robot at its heart. While Iris in Companion is — to put it in the least gross way possible — a "companionship" bot for adults, M3GAN is designed to be the ultimate friend to children. In both cases, the AI companions go into business for themselves and trigger a tonne of violence.

M3GAN, though, felt surprisingly conventional. Despite its oh-so-kooky trailer vibe — trebled in intensity for the new teaser trailer for this summer's M3GAN 2.0 — and that viral TikTok dance, the film feels as if it's holding itself back from pure insanity. Like a rebellious teenager changing their hair colour every week, it's determined to convince you it's edgier than it actually is.

Read more: M3GAN 2.0 star Allison Williams wants horror franchise to continue beyond spin-off SOULM8TE (BANG Showbiz, 3 min read)

It would be easy to blame the movie's PG-13 rating for this — especially in comparison to the R rating for Companion — but that feels too simplistic. We've seen plenty of completely unhinged, scary, and grotesque PG-13 horror movies. Happy Death Day, for example, nailed the postmodern horror-comedy vibe without pushing into R-rated territory.

M3GAN constantly feels as if it's fighting against its own unchained instincts, while Companion fully embraces them. Companion has the "yes and..." attitude of an improv comedian, whereas M3GAN often holds back and never fully lets itself off the leash. With M3GAN 2.0 on the way very shortly, you'd back Blumhouse to push through that barrier to make the most of the fact M3GAN is now firmly established as a modern horror baddie extraordinaire.

Read more: 'Companion' is the queer horror film that perfectly meets this moment (Pride, 9 min read)

Companion is already there, packing all manner of carnage into its brisk 97-minute running time. There are some neatly-sketched thematic elements, with more than a little nod to incel culture, as well as genuine surprises and a story structure that constantly keeps its audience guessing. It didn't matter that the robot reveal popped up in the trailer because no rug remained unpulled by the time the credits rolled.

It helps too that Sophie Thatcher's central performance is terrific, with Iris positioned very much as the protagonist of the story rather than the antagonist. It's Iris we sympathise with against the obnoxious, greedy human characters who refuse to acknowledge her as a person, despite cruelly imbuing her with memories that are completely real to her, whether they actually happened or not.

Thatcher's performance has real nuance behind it, while M3GAN was designed to be a little emptier and more uncanny. Young dancer Amie Donald's performance as M3GAN is a technical and physical marvel, but she's not asked to emote in the way that Thatcher is. This just gives Companion an added dimension — an emotional edge to give the slapstick and splat-stick more impact.

Read more: Companion’s Jack Quaid Draws Parallels Between This Character And His Ghostface Turn In Scream (CinemaBlend, 4 min read)

There's very little chance that Companion sparks a franchise in the way that M3GAN has but, as a standalone exercise in horror storytelling, it's a much more impressive movie — a romcom with a hear that's twisted in the best way. By allowing itself to fully break free of its chains, it pushes the killer robot concept to its ludicrous limit and beyond.

Companion is in UK cinemas now. M3GAN 2.0 will arrive on 27 June.