As I’ve stated before, one of my favorite things a movie can do is surprise me. I love going into a movie and having my preconceived notions, whatever they may be, about the thing I’m about to watch completely going out the window. But there is a line. If the film seems so smugly satisfied with itself for its ability to throw curveballs at you, the experience can become frustrating. Director Drew Hancock’s debut(!) feature Companion knows exactly where that line is, and has much more on its mind beyond the rollercoaster ride of reveals and twists that the film keeps throwing at you. It’s an unhinged, over-the-top, deliciously twisted delight, and probably the first great film of 2025.

Two trailers were released for Companion. One that tells you almost nothing about the movie and one, released within the last couple weeks that tells you, in my opinion, a bit too much. To preserve the film’s many surprises I’m going to be vague today in my writing of this review. Even if you’ve seen the new trailer, the film is not ruined for you by any means. What’s revealed in this trailer is something we learn in the first 20 minutes of the film, and in fact, it was kind of an interesting experience to view the first act knowing this piece of information. But this is definitely one where you should go in as blind as possible. So, my review today, as always, will be spoiler free, and I’m not even going to mention what we learn in that second trailer, and the trailer I will link below is the one that doesn’t tell you anything. Maybe in a month or two I’ll come back and write a more spoiler-laden breakdown for the film. TBD.

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) are a couple on a weekend getaway to a friend’s stunning and expensive lake house. Iris meets Josh’s friend Kat (Megan Suri), the wealthy man she’s seeing (Rupert Friend), their friend Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage). Once they arrive at this beautiful getaway destination, it quickly becomes clear all is not as it seems.

Companion is the debut feature from writer/director Drew Hancock, who previously worked as a writer for a number of television projects. Hancock shows great understanding for the mechanics of pacing, plotting and the way a plot twist is revealed. I saw the film at a sold-out advance screening on Monday night and this was extremely fun to see with a crowd. The number of times I found myself gasping, laughing or otherwise audibly reacting and then noticing a whole bunch of strangers around me sharing the same experience – this is what we go to the movies for. This experience was so fun and so exciting to behold. And this film provides the perfect argument to ignore all movie trailers and just go see something with a blank slate. And I hope that’s an experience other moviegoers can have with this one.

Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid are both stars of successful streaming series that have worked their way into the cinematic space over these past few years. Thatcher, a star of Showtime’s buzzy Yellowjackets, most recently seen in A24’s Heretic, Quaid, the lead star of Amazon’s megahit The Boys, who will star in Paramount’s forthcoming Novocaine, later this year. Both leads here are absolute movie stars, and are constantly working hard to match the nutty heights of this screenplay. Both are at points, charming, hilarious and terrifying. The way these two characters are explored as we begin to learn more about them, is endlessly fascinating and these actors are absolutely up for the challenge of making the most out of what the script is giving them.

Harvey Guillén is best known for his work on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, and he’s hilarious here opposite Lukas Gage, who is probably best known for his work on HBO’s The White Lotus. Gage is a charm machine who has been a memorable presence in a number of other projects, who even has his own memoir coming out later this year. This duo brings unexpected heart and emotional heft to the proceedings, and both are doing terrific work here. Megan Suri, perhaps best known for Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, brings an altogether different perspective from the film’s other characters and she’s exciting to watch as well.

Being Drew Hancock’s debut feature, there’s an abundance of ideas here, and somehow it never feels like he’s cramming too much into this film, or not saying enough. Like I said, it can be annoying when a film keeps throwing twist after twist at you, with the filmmaker seemingly flexing their own creativity. It is extremely rare that the film earns that kind of tone, and you get the idea Hancock has considered this narrative from all possible angles and has really thought this thing through. Companion is a film overflowing with sharp observations about the way we are to each other. Primarily it’s a big metaphor about domestic abuse. But it’s also about gender dynamics, narcissism, privilege, misogyny, the implications of advancing technology, and about recreational human cruelty. It’s often said that January is the dumping ground for the worst cinema has to offer, but I’ve seen a few films released this month that have really surprised me. And with Companion, I might have to start on my best of 2025 list a little earlier than I expected. 

I don’t want to tell you much more, but rest assured Companion is the first great movie released this year. It’s a remarkably slick and surprising and almost nihilistic romantic comedy that will definitely leave you wanting to discuss it with friends afterward. It’s a clever, twisted mix of icepick-sharp satire and edge-of-your-seat suspense, is boasted by some really memorable performances, and shows the birth of a truly exciting new filmmaker. If Drew Hancock can pull this kind of thing off a second time, I’ll be shocked and delighted by what this means for horror and genre cinema as a whole. This one’s a blast.