Companion (2025) Reviews: What Critics Said

Editorial note: This is a roundup of published criticism of Companion. Celluloid has not screened the film for this piece, and it carries no Celluloid rating. The critics are named and linked under Sources.

Is Companion worth watching?

Most critics say yes: Drew Hancock’s debut feature was widely received as a brisk, darkly comic thriller, and Sophie Thatcher’s lead performance was praised across the board. Reviewers enjoyed its twists, its violence and its jabs at controlling men. The main reservation is depth: several critics felt its ideas about technology and relationships stay on the surface, and one found the whole thing facile.

What is Companion about?

During a weekend getaway at a secluded lakeside estate, a group of friends finds itself caught in a web of secrets, deception and advanced technology. As tensions rise and loyalties are tested, they uncover unsettling truths about themselves and the world around them. The trailers made the film’s science-fiction hook plain early on: Iris is not quite the girlfriend she seems. Sophie Thatcher plays Iris and Jack Quaid her boyfriend, Josh, with Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend among the other guests. Drew Hancock wrote and directed the film, which was released in 2025 and runs 97 minutes. Release details and where to watch are on the Companion film page.

What critics praised

Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge called the film a clever surprise. He admired the way Thatcher’s character keeps changing as the story develops, thought Quaid an inspired piece of casting against type, and credited Hancock with impressive control and precision for a first feature. He also found the dark comedy well timed and saw pointed satire in the way Iris is treated by the people around her.

Georgia Evans of Time Out was more enthusiastic still, describing a wickedly entertaining horror comedy and a cathartic, darkly funny look at gender dynamics. Much of its pleasure, in her view, lies in watching an entitled, controlling man get what is coming to him.

The warmest review here came from Emma Kiely of Collider, who considered Thatcher an exquisite lead with a magnetic presence and thought Quaid handled the switch between charm and menace perfectly. She praised a razor-sharp script that moves between comedy, thriller and horror without losing its emotional core, found Guillén a welcome source of relief, and felt the film’s commentary on dating and misogyny arises naturally rather than being preached.

Where critics were divided

Laura Venning of Empire found it entertaining but inconsequential. She liked the central performances, the comic support from Guillén and Gage, and a second half that turns lively and surprising once the story becomes a chase. But she did not think the film seriously examines male control, and felt its central secret is barely concealed.

The strongest reservations came from Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club. He thought Thatcher excellent, bringing a melancholy sincerity to a role that could have been a cipher, and he enjoyed some of Hancock’s sight gags. But he felt the twists do little to change how earlier scenes read, that the satire of nice-guy entitlement arrives late to a well-covered subject, and that Thatcher’s performance hints at a stranger, more unsettling film than the one Hancock made. In his view the result is a facile horror romp.

Even the admirers placed limits on the film. Debruge judged it far less intelligent than Ex Machina, noted that it shows little interest in the technical or ethical implications of its premise, and found a few scenes stilted. Evans likewise felt it skirts the moral questions about artificial intelligence that more philosophical science fiction takes on. Kiely’s only complaint was that the marketing gave away its first big reveal.

Who is it for?

Companion suits viewers who want a fast, funny and bloody genre film with a satirical edge rather than a searching study of artificial intelligence. It is rated R in the US and 15 in the UK. Those who enjoyed the social horror of Get Out or the class satire of The Menu may find a similar mix of laughs and menace here, if on a lighter scale.

The critical verdict

The critics here agree that Companion is a well-made, entertaining thriller and that Sophie Thatcher is the main reason to see it. Most enjoyed its humour and its reversals. The main dispute is over how much the film has to say: Kiely found it sharp, while Venning and Hassenger thought its commentary thin, and even the more positive reviewers saw it as clever fun rather than serious science fiction.