Companion is a scifi thriller about Iris(Sophie Thatcher) a companion robot who's taken to a secluded weekend away by her "boyfriend" Josh(Jack Quaid) but things are not what they seem and danger is on the horizon!
Thatcher's star continues to rise and her performance is by far the most compelling element of the movie, she gives Iris incredible depth and dimension, executes the action panache, and translates some of the deeper themes as best as can be expected with the uneven script. Quaid is serviceable but other than The Boys has yet to show he's got the talent or range to be at the top of the call sheet, he's not able to really play any levels here, his 'turn' is profoundly unsurprising, the character is flat and he doesn't do much to bring it to life. The limited supporting cast have talent, it's especially great to see Harvey Guillén playing against type, but they don't have enough to do.
Visually the film looks good, shot mostly at one location, it's slick, evocative, and mostly effective. The soundtrack is uneven and at times serves to undermine or work against the established tone, there are a couple diegetic needle drop moments which clearly intend to be impactful but oddly fall flat. But mostly the problems stem from the script, discordantly paced the movie either needs more action or more AI philosophizing, as is the momentum starts and stops and allows the audience to easily get ahead of what's happening. The whole idea is relatively derivative(Ex Machina being the closest cousin) and ultimately there's just not enough new or fresh about this to hold that much interest. There's a good movie in here but as is it's relatively rote and feels more like a bloated Black Mirror episode rather than a feature.
A consummate Thatcher can't quite elevate this middling fare.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
Stream It.
No comments:
Post a Comment