AI horror is gonna lure me every time.
You might recall my rave review for the critically maligned “evil Alexa” movie “AfrAId” a while back. Stories about the fears of AI just really tickle my philosophical funny bone.
As a result, I knew I would eventually see “Companion” (about an intelligent sexbot) when I saw the preview in theaters.
I’m afraid “Companion” is no “AfrAId”
I’m not sure how much I can discuss without giving away major plot points, but you’ve probably picked up that the movie pits a lifelike robot against various humans. (As I say it, I’m reminded a bit of the old Wes Craven movie “Deadly Friend.” But little in “Companion” is untrod upon territory.)
Who are the villains and who are the good guys? I suspect you know the answer, but I won’t say more.
“Companion” does have its characters talk through some of the modern fears of technology. For instance, I know there’s a backlash among creatives towards generative AI (a backlash I am not part of, I should be clear, though I understand the emotion behind it.) In the movie, one character speaks to this, saying to Iris, “you make me feel so replaceable.” That’s I think the fundamental human fear of AI right there: that the machine will be better than us at being ourselves. (That said, in the scenes we get of the sexbot having sex, she seemed decidedly unfreaky.)
A few of the other standard AI dilemmas are touched upon: can AI be sentient? Can it have internal experiences? Free will?
The villains are all dunderheads which lowered the tension quite a bit.
There was something very predictable about its safe politics. Is the boorish Russian character who attacks Iris is an allegory for the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Almost certainly.
I saw another reviewer describe the film as “superficially feminist” which is spot on. (For what it’s worth, it’s directed and mostly produced by men. (On the other hand, they did “Barbarian” which I loved.))
Not a terrible film, but I’m glad I didn’t pay to see it.
My related reviews
- AfrAId (AI terror)
- Lisa Frankenstein (Feminist horror)
More on “Companion”
Like horror? Check out my slasher novel The Mirror Man – available now on Amazon. Kindle Unlimited subscribers read for free.
