Dark psychological comedy Companion reviewed at The Light, Wisbech

Film review: Companion (15) - seen at The Light, Wisbech

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

Director: Drew Hancock Run time: One hour, 37 minutes

The mainstream press is full of stories about Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the moment, with fears of the dangers it may pose.

But while the Chinese government stealing our secrets, students cheating at exams and workers being displaced by new technology are grabbing the headlines, it is AI sex that’s got the film industry excited.

But this dark comedy-thriller is more than just a fantasy about what men can do with realistic, beautiful robots. The story may revolve around Josh (Jack Quaid) and his ‘sex companion’ Iris (Sophie Thatcher) but this film is as much about how men treat the women in their lives as it is about how they relate to their robots.

So, in the USA of the future, it is commonplace for single men and women to live with robots, which are programmed with romantic back stories, feelings, emotions and everything else that makes us human. They look like us and don’t even know that they are not living, breathing flesh and bones.

But when Josh takes Iris to meet his friends at a remote lakeside estate in the countryside, the death of billionaire host Sergey (Rupert Friend) sets off a bloody chain of events.

Also at the estate are Josh’s good friends Kat (Megan Suri), Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his robot boyfriend Patrick (Lucas Gage).

Thatcher is so believable as robot Iris, with Quaid also superb as Josh, who turns from affable everyman to violent control freak as the film progresses. He can dictate everything about Iris, from when she sleeps, to her intelligence levels. She cannot lie and she will do whatever she is told.

But when Iris is told to kill, we see how dispensable she really is to Josh, compared to Eli who does seem to really love Patrick. It is quite heartbreaking, as Iris genuinely loves her man and cannot understand how easy it is for him to switch off his feelings.

The acting from Thatcher and Gage is superb as they both have to adapt to their programming being altered, and the action never stops, director Drew Hancock filling every one of the 97 minutes.

There’s some very funny moments among the action and a thrilling end too. AI and how we use it is a very interesting subject, and here it is brilliantly dealt with.

Rating: 8/10

By Jeremy Ransome