Companion: Movie Review

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

Meshing The Stepford Wives with elements of other films too spoilery to mention, Barbarian director Zach Cregger's latest showcases a superb performance from Yellowjackets' star Sophie Thatcher.

She plays Iris, the utterly devoted girlfriend to Jack Quaid's Josh, who's worried about fitting in when they head to a friend's getaway house in the remote country. But meeting up with the group sees their relationship tested in an entirely unexpected manner.

Companion's desire to play with the dynamics of power and control within a relationship does help push some boundaries - and while the initial twist of the situation is revealed fairly early on, the film still has a tendency to surprise in the most unexpected of ways.

While Quaid is suitably smarmy and provides another version of his Hughie from The Boys, the film belongs squarely to Thatcher. Her performance as the oppressed, light-suddenly-going-on Iris is mesmerising to watch, with minor subtleties signalling change, and with key pieces of dialogue dropped lightly into the script hinting, she plays the duplicity well. Plus the story demands a level of complexity for her arc that she handles with ease and aplomb.

But if Companion feels like it slightly goes awry at some point early on with its twists taking precedence over everything else, the back half of the film ramps up the horror - and also the existential questions and moral quandaries.

However, Cregger's latest doesn't lose its light touch when juggling the genres it's dabbling in, providing a genre piece that's as playful and light as it is deep and engaging in parts. Excoriating incel culture, examining relationships and control and providing genre kills and surprises when needed, Companion does a lot more than you'd expect - but without Thatcher's central performance, it wouldn't be nearly as good as it is.