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Robot Iris turns out to be a straw man in horror-comedy Companion

Starring Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher, this film sets out to deconstruct men's objectification of women, and asks good questions about why we want robots at all. Shame about the logical hole at its centre

By Simon Ings

19 February 2025

Caption: (L-R) JACK QUAID as Josh and SOPHIE THATCHER as Iris in New Line Cinema?s ?COMPANION,? a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Josh (Jack Quaid) and his robo-companion, Iris (Sophie Thatcher)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Companion
Drew Hancock (Warner Bros (UK and US, on general release))

Arriving at a house in the country, Iris (Sophie Thatcher) isn’t sure she is welcome. The owner, Sergey (Rupert Friend), is leery; his wife, Kat (Megan Suri), is unfriendly. It isn’t Iris she dislikes, Kat later admits, it is “the idea” of her: she makes her feel redundant.

Iris’s boyfriend, Josh (Jack Quaid), is patient and encouraging, but even he finds her shyness and clinginess hard to bear. “Go to sleep, Iris,” he says, and Iris’s eyes roll up inside her head as…

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