One of the interesting things about losing your vision is that your drive to consume film trailers goes down significantly. Most of them do not have audio description, which in theatres and television, can result in not even knowing which film is being sold to me. Sometimes, I might have a sighted person with me, but not always, and then the entire trailer is lost on me. Maybe I recognize an actors voice, and IMDb can point me in the right direction. So, I often “go in blind” to these movies. for Companion, this seems to be the preferred method of viewing the film. i mention this, only because every other review I’ve seen seems to stress that you do not want this movie spoiled for you. But, you are here, so you must have accepted at least on some level that I would talk about Companion.
the problem is, while I can see the benefit of going into this with the least amount of knowledge possible, I’m not sure it is necessary. There isn’t anything in this that absolutely blew my mind in that Tyler Durden/I See dead People kind of way. Last year, i did find a few films that fell into the realm of “no spoilers”, but Companion? honestly, the hype around not spoiling the film ended up causing me to watch this like I was some deep conspiracy theorist who hadn’t left my basement since the Bush administration. Which one? You choose.
What you should know is that this film really centers on a core couple (Sophia Thatcher/Jack Quaid) who join some other friends at a cabin for the weekend, where “someone is revealed to not be what they seem”. I would classify this movie as a horror, and if you go to the IMDb page, while their plot summary is extremely mild, their genres and sub-genres are not. They will reveal basically the whole film. While the twist is not the same, this is like Abigail. Some people went into that with a little more knowledge. If you went into Abigail and wished you had known literally nothing about it, then hop out of here now, and run to watch Companion. You’ll like it.
The movie really does give Sophie Thatcher quite a bit to do, as a lot of horror movies do with a “final girl”, though it is debatable if she would fall into that formula. For someone whose star is rising, this is an impressive performance and film to add to her resume. she’s sympathetic at all times, regardless of the choices the film has made for her character. Jack Quaid, on the other hand, is playing a bit more against type. he’s often the guy you would find to be kind, charming, or comic relief. he is really none of those things, and instead is self centered, morally antagonistic, and not likely to be the character you would choose to root for. Among the supporting cast, we have Harvey Guillen (What We Do in The Shadows), who I’m a big fan of, who plays actually a lot more the type that Quaid is used to playing, and even if his character makes poor choices, somehow he maintains a likability that transcends. The other standout is Lucas Gage, who is a lot like the male version of thatcher, a character destined to be a protagonist regardless of how the film shapes them through their actions. He does a great job with the complicated layers of his character, and has some beautiful emotionally anchoring moments.
the audio description track for the film didn’t really do an excellent job of character description, but in terms of the location, the limited range of places they go allows for somewhat of a substantial definition of where they are. The audio description also really supports the primary genre of the film. While it isn’t intensely gory, and could serve as a gateway film for people who can’t handle jump scares, or Terrifyer levels of gore, it does have some moments, and those few times were described well enough. the sound mix of the track was also really excellent, and I felt like I recognized the narrators voice, and they did nice work. it doesn’t necessarily lean into the scary, but the film isn’t really scary. Horror seems like the easiest to define genre, but it is a lot closer to M3gan than the Substance.
For what seems like a feature directorial debut from Drew Hancock, I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t think this will make my top films of the year list, but it is a very strong recommend. Just don’t overdo the anticipation of major plot twists. there wasn’t anything truly surprising, and I kept looking down an empty rabbit hole because other critics made me feel like I was going to get some ending like james Mangold’s Identity. It does make some fun choices, but this should be nowhere near a list of the best twists of 2025.
Fresh: Final Grade: A-, Audio Description: A-
