A weekend getaway among friends at a remote cabin unravels into chaos after a man is murdered. A film by Drew Hancock, starring Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, Jaboukie Young-White, Matthew J. McCarthy, Marc Menchaca, and Rupert Friend.

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) dreams about the first time she met Josh (Jack Quaid) at a supermarket. For her, it was love at first sight — a transcendent moment when the lights flickered and dark clouds parted. She wakes up in her boyfriend Josh’s self-driving car, heading to Sergey’s lake house for a weekend getaway at the invitation of Josh’s friend Kat.

When they arrive at the lake house, Iris grows frustrated and opens up to Josh, admitting she’s worried she’ll do or say something embarrassing in front of his friends, which would only make things worse for Josh. Josh reassures her, insisting his friends don’t dislike her, but Iris can’t shake the feeling that Kat, in particular, hates her — even though she has no idea why.

They meet up with Kat (Megan Suri) and her boyfriend Sergey (Rupert Friend), as well as Eli and his boyfriend Patrick. It’s Iris’s first time meeting Sergey, Kat’s wealthy boyfriend, who owns the lake house and all the surrounding land. Sergey seems to take a particular interest in Iris, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the others.

After dinner, prepared by Patrick (Lukas Gage), Iris is captivated by his story about how he first met Eli (Harvey Guillén) and fell in love. When Patrick casually asks Sergey what kind of work he does, Sergey responds cryptically, saying he has “his fingers in many pots” and that his hands “aren’t clean” because he works in a “very dirty business.” Kat doesn’t elaborate either, only offering vague hints about Sergey’s work when talking to Josh. This leaves Josh with the unsettling assumption that Sergey might be involved in something illegal — perhaps even organized crime or, worse, human trafficking.

The next morning, Iris heads down to the lake alone after Josh claims he’s too hungover from drinking the night before and insists she should enjoy the beautiful morning by herself. As Iris walks by the water, she’s startled to find a folding knife in her pocket. Before she can process how it got there, Sergey appears. She quickly hides the knife.

Sergey reveals their meeting isn’t a coincidence—he tells her it was Kat’s idea and that she gave him permission to do whatever he wanted with Iris. When Sergey tries to sexually assault her, Iris fights back in self-defense, ultimately killing him. As the story unravels, it becomes clear that this was all part of a sinister plan orchestrated by Josh and Kat to steal $12 million in cash from Sergey’s safe.

Written and directed by American filmmaker Drew Hancock in his directorial debut, Companion is a black comedy thriller set in a secluded lake house where six friends gather for a weekend getaway.

It’s hard to discuss the film without giving too much away, though viewers will likely find it more entertaining and enjoyable if they avoid watching the trailer, as it essentially spoils one of the major plot twists.

I’m also annoyed by the multiple obvious hints the filmmaker intentionally plants throughout the film to point viewers toward Iris’s true identity. It doesn’t feel necessary — this isn’t a detective story, and there’s no need to spell things out for the audience. The heavy-handed approach takes away from the subtlety and intrigue that could have made the reveal more satisfying.

Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid deliver strong performances as Iris and Josh, though Josh’s character feels somewhat one-dimensional, sticking to the same note from start to finish.

The narrative often feels like a short film stretched to feature length — it could have worked better as a 45-minute short or even a single episode of Black Mirror. The script seems to play it safe, placing limitations on both the characters and certain aspects of the story. At times, the film attempts to lean into black comedy, but it never quite commits enough to be truly dark or genuinely funny.

Companion was theatrically released in the United States on 31 January 2025, by Warner Bros.