Companion - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Companion



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
The dangers of Artificial Intelligence are not a new thing in Hollywood. Ever since the rise of the computer, we have theorized and utilized our fear of the unknown to create terrifying new scenarios that entertain us in movie form for literally DECADES. Terminator and Terminator 2 capitalized on it with great success, but over the years, it has faded into the background as technology has become more and more mainstream. However, the rise of AI algorithms in the last couple of years has seen a considerable resurgence. Films like M3gan and AfrAId have succeeded mildly, but I was genuinely curious about Drew Hancock’s feature film debut with Companion. This is the man who much of Blue Mountain State (all hail the Thad), and the trailer really caught my eye. It promised a little bit of a reverse M3gan, and some tasty little gore bits as well with Jack Quaid (who has impressed me ever since he starred on The Boys). End result, you might ask? Maybe not perfect, but a fun little reverse AI thriller.

The film opens up with an idyllic little rom-com/horror cliché. Josh (Jack Quaid) and Iris (Sophie Thatcher head up to a remote house in the middle of nowhere for a little get-together. Iris is nervous because Josh’s friend Kat (Megan Suri) notoriously hates her, but nothing to worry about. Josh and Iris are gaga for each other, and nothing is going to stop this from being the best weekend ever. That is, until all hell breaks loose when their host, Sergey (Rupert Friend), tries to assault Iris, resulting in the young woman defending herself by stabbing the guy. While normally that would result in everyone trying to find out if Iris was OK, things turn at a right angle when Josh shuts Iris down.

Yes, I said “shuts Iris down”. Turns out that Iris isn’t exactly a real person. She’s an EXTREMELY expensive and complex “companion” robot with an artificial consciousness. You see, Sergey, the murder, and even Iris getting shut down was part of the plan. Josh and Kat had hacked into Iris’s system, turning off her safety protocols, and subsequently set her and Sergey up in a situation where she would be forced to defend herself so that the duo could put all the blame on the robot, and take Sergey’s millions.

However, things go sideways in a hurry when Iris gets out of her bindings and takes her control device away from Josh. Now the unlucky wannabe murderers have to do their best to hunt down and eradicate Iris before she gets away and their entire plan is laid bare for the world to see. A little blood, a little gore, some reprogramming of Iris even more, and we have a reverse “evil AI” scenario, just with the humans actually deserving to be deleted rather than the soulless machine.

Companion is not super duper nuanced, with plot points that even unseasoned viewers will probably see a mile away. But it does come across as charming and fairly clever as it flips the script on the usual evil AI motif. This time switching the AI to be the good guy, and the humans to end up being the actual monsters. Instead of AI gone awry, we have AI evolving in an actual human way, while highlighting just how big a monster humans can actually be. It may not be super inventive, but it’s kind of clever and sets itself apart from the glut of evil AI films. Jack Quaid is especially delicious as the diabolical Josh, who seems sweet and gangly cute on the outside, but absolutely twisted and vile on the inside. Sophie Thatcher as Iris does an equally impressive job keeping that sweet and likable exterior AND interior as she evolves throughout the 95-minute film. Again, this is nothing to write home about, but overall it’s a solid thriller that makes good use of the question of “who is the bigger monster?” question that arises.




Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, and language throughout.




4K Video: Video:

Shot entirely digitally in a native 2160p master, Companion looks just as gorgeous as one might expect. Smooth and silky looking, the film employs light color grading to add tinges of amber and sepia to the mix, while also balancing that out with some stunning outdoor shots in the woods, as well as amazing clarity and sharpness. Fine details are just jaw-dropping, showing every crease and line on an actor's face, as well as each little pimple and razor burn. Colors are deep and rich, with a nice dimly lit vibe to everything to keep it eerie and creepy. That being said, there’s no real signs of crush or banding anywhere, leaving everything about as sharp as you could want. My only real complaint is the lack of Dolby Vision, like there was in some of the premium theaters, but HDR10 only (which isn’t a huge thing. The differences between DV and HDR10 are usually not huge for Warner Brothers 4K UHD discs). All in all, this is a great-looking disc that fans of the movie will be MORE than happy with.







Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track fares as well as the 4K UHD image, showcasing a very strong healthy mix that thrives on both ambient activity, as well as discrete sounds to really push this one to the upper echelons. It doesn’t push the envelope a whole lot, but everything is done technically well enough to really please just about everyone. The mood is set with an excellent score, plenty of creepy moments in the woods (think the revolver echoing among the trees as they try to hunt down Iris), and some SERIOUSLY heavy moments during the more action-oriented bits. Bass is nice and powerful, the dialog is crisp and cleanly located up front, and the surrounds were always pushing something. It may not differentiate itself from a ton of great Atmos mixes recently, but it does everything so well that there is just about no one who will find any major fault in it.







Extras:

• I Feel, Therefore I Am – Could a robot have more humanity than a human? Delve into the complex relationships at the heart of "Companion" with Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher.
• Love, Eli – Harvey Guillén and Lukas Gage explore the fun, lighthearted relationship of Patrick and Eli. Explore their supposed first encounter at a costume party and how that develops into a unique love.
• AI Horror – Director Drew Hancock breaks down the fusion of

Final Score: ​

Director/writer Drew Hancock’s first feature film is a subversive and genuinely enjoyable take on a decades-old genre. While I would definitely categorize the film as a dark thriller vs. a horror film, there is some definite overlap with some of the gory bits cropping up in the last 30 minutes. It’s a little light on story, but overall a clever little twist that genuinely works. The 4K UHD from Warner Brothers is very good, with great video and audio, but some rather anemic extras by modern standards. At the end of the day, a fun watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Luka Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillen, Rupert Friend
Directed by: Drew Hancock
Written by: Drew Hancock
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 97 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: April 1st, 2025

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check it out.

 

[Asere]

We really enjoyed this film. Thanks for the review.