A billionaire’s death sets off a chain of events for Iris and her friends during a weekend trip to his lakeside estate.

‘Companion’ is a terrific little sci-fi thriller that explores what happens when a weekend getaway for a couple and their friends suddenly goes awry, throwing everything into disarray. The couple are Josh and Iris, played by Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher, and they seem to be the perfect, loving couple – a little too perfect in fact. Also on the getaway are Josh’s friends Eli and Patrick (Harvey Guillén and Lukas Gage), with immediate tension coming from Kat (Megan Suri) and her obnoxious Russian gangster boyfriend Sergey (a brilliant Rupert Friend). It’s the perfect setup for chaos to unfold, and unfold it does.

‘Companion’ is a classic example of a movie that is best going into knowing as little as possible, and sadly if you’ve seen the trailer as I had before, you’ll already know a lot of what to expect. That said, this is a movie that constantly confounds and surprises, and is far more inventive with its material than I expected it to be, so even going in with that initial knowledge does not ruin the enjoyment. In plot terms there are influences of ‘Black Mirror’, but it’s core message is probably more realistic (and frightening) than anything that series came up with in its exploration of coercive behaviour within a relationship in the subtle ways we start to see Josh exert control over Iris. I’ve yet to see ‘The Boys’ so I’m not overly familiar with Jack Quaid, but he’s super here, as is Sophie Thatcher as Iris who is very much establishing herself as a bit of a scream queen. Support is good as well, with Harvey Guillén excelling on one of his first ventures outside his Staten Island vampire home (‘What We Do In The Shadows’).

I thought ‘Companion’ was a brilliantly entertaining, cleverly written thriller that uses its science fiction trappings to smartly dig into and subvert the idea of domestic bliss. Well worth a trip to the cinema – and avoid reading up in advance!

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Drew Hancock

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Megan Suri, Lukas Gage, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt26584495/