“Companion” is arriving in theaters Jan. 31, and a virtual college press roundtable was held earlier this week for the new Warner Bros. film. Five cast members, as well as the writer and director of the movie shared their insights in an exclusive conversation.
Written and directed by Drew Hancock, “Companion” stars Sophie Thatcher (Iris), Jack Quaid (Josh), Megan Suri (Kat), Lukas Gage (Patrick) and Harvey Guillén (Eli). As far as what “Companion” is about, I can’t really tell you. I know that sounds unnecessarily vague, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what genre this film is, which is something to love about it.
You could categorize the movie as horror, but also as science fiction. I also laughed a lot, so maybe it’s even a comedy in its own way. Additionally, the film’s marketing has been deliberately ambiguous, and for good reason. The less you know going in, the better.
I asked Thatcher and Quaid a question that ties into the ambiguity of the marketing for “Companion.” If you watch the trailers and other promotional materials for the film, you’ll notice the phrase that we’re being cordially invited to experience ‘a new kind of love story.’ Especially after seeing what happens in the film (no spoilers!), I found that positioning quite intriguing and wondered if the actors thought there was any truth to that statement. I asked Thatcher and Quaid if they viewed “Companion” as a love story at all, and whether they thought their characters would view it as a love story as well. Their answers really broke down what is at the center of the movie thematically.
“Well Drew’s been saying it’s a breakup story, but there’s so many themes within it, of course, to dissect,” Thatcher responded. “But I think it’s a breakup story about finding yourself at its core. So it’s an anti-love story in a weird way! But then it also starts off as a love story and it blends so many different genres, and I think that’s what keeps it exciting.”
“That’s why it was one of the best scripts I ever read; it’s because I still don’t necessarily know what genre it is, and I love that,” Quaid added. “But someone came in here earlier and was like, ‘Yeah, Drew’s been calling it a breakup story’ and both of us were like, ‘Ugh! Why didn’t we know? That’s the answer right there.’ So yeah, I love that it’s flipping so many things on its head, but at its core, [Sophie’s] right, it is a breakup story. I love it.”
I directed the same question to Megan Suri, Lukas Gage and Harvey Guillén, to see what their take on the whole “love story” framing was. Their answers really deepened my appreciation for their characters.
“I mean, I feel like I mostly relate to Kat’s perspective on what it is, but I think I have a little bit more empathy than maybe Kat displays throughout the movie,” Suri said. “There is a loneliness epidemic, and I do think it directly parallels, actually, with our growing connection to technology, and so I can understand why it’s the case, even though that might be the cause as well. But I feel like for the most part we need to focus on human connections.”
Gage also dove into the details of his character (and ended with giving me a heartwarming “San Diego, we love you!” shoutout).
“I think it’s an interesting conversation about male loneliness in particular,” Gage responded. “Like both in a straight relationship and a queer relationship, and the power dynamics that we create in those relationships. And both the kind of toxic traits that both straight and queer relationships can have, and how we can view partners as an object rather than a person and a human.”
Gage continued to explain that to Patrick, this love is the realest thing he’s ever known, whether he’s human or a robot doesn’t change that. If it’s his reality, why wouldn’t it be real?
“Ditto!” Guillén simply added, which got a laugh out of everyone.
As you can probably tell, I’ve been making an effort to avoid discussing plot details in order to preserve the experience for anyone planning to see “Companion”—which, by the way, you definitely should!
What I can share is that while watching “Companion,” it’s evident that the film was designed to elicit audience reactions. There were many points throughout the film that prompted me to have audible reactions, which led me to ask writer and director Drew Hancock about the film’s approach to revealing information.
Without spoiling too much, there are several instances in “Companion” where characters know things the audience doesn’t, and the timing of these reveals feels very strategic. This is an interesting aspect to the film’s storytelling, so I asked Hancock how often he’s thinking of the audience in regard to what information to reveal, when to reveal information, and things of that nature.
“You just have to make the mistakes,” Hancock replied. “You just have to make the worst version of the movie. You write too much, and then you start showing it to people and they’re like, ‘Oh this is obvious, I saw this twist coming a mile away!’
“And so you start pulling back. And then, you kind of have to take the point of view of, like, Picasso when he painted. And I’m not comparing myself to Picasso, but his idea of what is the fewest amount of brushstrokes I could do before you recognize what this is? It just becomes a game of trying everything out, writing the worst version of it, making as many mistakes as you possibly can, getting as much feedback as you can from people you trust.”
Hancock broke down how making mistakes repeatedly is part of the process. Watching an audience react, you can sense when they’re engaged, when they’re checking their watches and which jokes land or fall flat. It’s all trial and error.
Going through that rigorous process ultimately paid off. Every time new information is revealed, it’s both surprising and satisfying, making the story feel earned. It’s a fantastic film and definitely worth seeing! “Companion” is out exclusively in theaters on Jan. 31.
