"Iris, wake up."
Although I saw Companion on opening day, I wanted to let my thoughts about the film settle and marinate in my mind for a bit. During this time I saw all manner of reactions and critiques of both the film and its marketing campaign.
Regarding the latter, I think I favor an observation that argued the reveal of Iris (Sophie Thatcher) being a robot in the film's trailer was not all that different of a spoiler, storytelling wise, from the trailer for Terminator 2: Judgment Day revealing who was the 'good' terminator and who was the 'bad' one. Even though the "first act" of both films play out as if the audience does not know this information.
Which leads me to another comment, this one made by a longtime friend, lamenting how the film's opening narration spoiled its ending. A complaint so literal minded it left me baffled.
I hope I am not alone in thinking Companion is not about what happened between Iris and Josh (Jack Quaid). It is about how and why it happened.
Knowing that Iris is a robot, that she is eventually going to kill Josh, is just a variation of Hitchcock's Bomb Theory. The difference between surprise and suspense.
Nothing in Companion's trailer made the film any less suspenseful or, in a truly shocking surprise, laugh out loud funny to me. There were surprises and shocks throughout the film's brisk runtime that both thrilled and delighted me. One moment I would be laughing, the next I would gasp in horrified shock. I loved every minute of it.
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