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Geek Girl Authority
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Movie Review: COMPANION
by Ray Schillaci The Movie Guys Here is my conundrum – when reviewing a movie, one should avoid all trailers, reviews, and synopses…so you may be as completely caught off guard and thrilled as I was with Companion . Then there is the clever marketing ploy announcing that Companion was by the people that brought us the beloved romantic epic The Notebook and the evil minds that gave horror hounds something to howl about, Barbarian . This announcement had 'WTF' all over it, and writer/director Drew Hancock had me uttering that to myself as his film meticulously unraveled to an unexpected climax. It helps that our two leads Jack Quaid (The Boys, The Hunger Games) and Sophie Thatcher (Heretic, Yellowjackets) are so damn likable. Together they practically make the most romantic couple since When Harry Met Sally . But, when the two of them decide on a getaway with friends (at a remote cabin), you can't help but feel something could easily go awry. To say any more would be a disservice to the potential viewer. What can be said is that Sydney Sweeney may have her crown as the 'new It girl' handed over to the utterly charming Sophie Thatcher. After delivering a riveting, dramatic performance in Heretic , Thatcher proves her comedic skills (dark as they may be) in Companion . She easily caught me off guard with her unique smile and wholesome look, but there's a complex mindset she also brings to the table. RELATED: Movie Review: The Phoenician Scheme On the other hand, Jack Quaid easily slips into the role of the awkward and funny boyfriend until he demonstrates a darker side. His range goes from sympathetic to devious and pathetic. Kudos must go out to both leads for bringing everything they do to the table. It is within the chemistry of the two that writer/director Drew Hancock can work his magic. Hancock exudes romantic notions with such ease that anything going against this couple is jarring, to say the least. He not only plays the two leads as if they were masterful chess maneuvers, but also includes the other players as well, making the film both funny and shocking. Needless to say, once everything is revealed, the film bears repeat viewing, just to catch what you might have missed. Visually, this is a lovely 4K presentation with a great attention to detail. You have this beautiful house deep in the woods with a stunning view of the lake. Colors are vibrant on the outside. Inside, the color palette tends to be warm and inviting, which almost gives you a carefree feeling. For a fairly 'low-budget' movie, $10 million, the film has very few effects. The great part about that is writer/director Hancock relies on his storytelling and his actors rather than relying on CGI. RELATED: Movie Review: From the World of John Wick: Ballerina Sound-wise, this is a subtle mix with not a lot of bangs and whistles. But, there is a great foreboding sense within the remote area. The Dolby Atmos sound provides a great sense of tension during a few important scenes. This is not an action film, the dialogue is the key and it remains crystal clear. It's not a disc where you'd be referencing the advantages of what 4K can provide, but it suits its purpose. Where are the bonus features, Warner Home Video? We get less than fifteen minutes' worth sans a gag reel, which would have been a lot of fun. Aside from that bit of disappointment, the company has decided not to include a Blu-ray with the 4K or a Blu-ray with a DVD. Sad day for some physical medium fans. But a digital download is included. As far as the story itself, have I said too much? I hope not. Because, as mentioned, Companion should be enjoyed with as little knowledge about it as possible. The 'R' rating at least gives enough of a warning that this is not a family-friendly affair. But, it is a film I highly recommend watching with (discerning) family and friends. RELATED: Bring Her Back Spoiler Review Lowest price – 4K – $27.95, Blu-ray – $22.95 at Amazon & Walmart Companion is also available for streaming. Visit Ray's blog at Directed by: Drew Hancock Release Date: January 31, 2025 Run Time: 97 Minutes Rated: R Country: U.S.A. Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Drew Hancock on Why ‘Companion' Is More ‘Marriage Story' Than ‘Minority Report': ‘This Is a Breakup Movie at Its Core'
Writer/director Drew Hancock's 'Companion' is the best kind of cinematic thrill ride, a combination rom-com, heist movie, and sci-fi thriller that keeps the audience guessing at every turn — yet reveals itself on second viewing to have been carefully constructed so that every twist seems completely inevitable. According to Hancock, it was a structure arrived at by a combination of careful planning and improvisation. 'It was a heavily outlined first half,' Hancock told IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, 'and then I knew where it was going and had the basic ingredients of what we would end up with. But I've written enough to know that if you outline too much, you end up wasting a lot of time on the ending, because most of the time, you'll find a completely different ending while you're writing it.' More from IndieWire Mo Amer Took Season 2 of 'Mo' on a Walkabout from 'Shawshank Redemption' to Bob Ross Karla Sofía Gascón Offers an Apology That May Not Be Enough To that end, Hancock meticulously outlined the first hour of the movie and started writing. Once he figured out the characters' voices, and they were 'telling me what story they wanted to be told,' he closed the Final Draft file and outlined the second half after the first half had been fully written. 'That took about a month to crack, and then I opened the Final Draft file again and just started where I left off and finished it. And then the rewriting process was pretty intense.' One thing that continued to evolve throughout the rewriting process was the film's tone, which is carefully calibrated throughout to walk a fine line between comedy and drama, fantasy and reality, and romance and horror. Many of the genre elements that made it into the final film weren't even there in the original conception. 'The very first draft had no comedy to it,' Hancock said. 'It had no heist element to it. It was a not very good 'Black Mirror' episode.' That forced Hancock to step back and think about the purpose of writing the script to begin with. 'I was in a place where I wasn't being given the career opportunities that I wanted, and 'Companion' sprung from that,' he said. 'It was just, sit down, write something that represents your voice. The irony of that is the first draft didn't represent my voice because I have a very comedic mindset. A lot of people that come from comedy think it's easy, and, therefore, you think, because it's easy, it's not what I should be doing. Writing needs to be tough.' Once Hancock realized that his instincts were wrong, he went back and added the comedy and tonal shifts. 'In hindsight, obviously there were all these genres mixed together because it could easily have been my last script,' Hancock said. 'I was in my 40s and living paycheck to paycheck with a comfortably low cost of living because I don't have a family. So when I look back at the script, it does feel like, oh, this might be the only thing I write, so let's throw everything at the wall. Let's make it a heist movie. Let's make it a horror movie. Let's make it a thriller with a relationship drama at the spine of it.' The ways in which 'Companion' keeps rebooting are what make it such a pleasure for the audience. It gives the viewer the same charge as early John Carpenter or Quentin Tarantino movies in the way that it reinvents and reinvigorates the genres it's riffing on. That grew out of Hancock's desire to go for broke. 'It was me advertising to the world, 'Look, I can do all of these things.' That's something I didn't realize when I was writing it, but I feel now.' Writing the script was one thing, but what makes 'Companion' truly remarkable is how precisely — again, echoes of early Tarantino and Carpenter — Hancock expresses what's in the script and gives it another layer through his visual language. His orchestration of the production design, cinematography, costumes, and other elements to find a pitch-perfect balance between a relatable real world and a slightly futuristic one in which key aspects are just slightly off-kilter exhibits an impressive degree of control and taste for a first-time director. Hancock credits his collaborators with contributing a lot of the film's ideas, explaining that part of directing was not keeping too tight a grip on what he had created as a writer. 'I think the best directing comes from a place of finding the guardrails,' he said. ''This is too far in this direction, this is too far in that direction.' Within this boundary you can play and have fun and make discoveries of your own and figure it out.' Hancock feels that it's especially important to give the actors both freedom and protection, an approach that yields two thrillingly inventive and hilarious performances from leads Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher. He said that he let the actors know 'I will protect you and make sure you never color outside the lines. When I'm writing the script, I want to define as much as possible and paint my version of the movie. And then we can change that and mess with it, and I'm always open for any conversations.' In the end, what unifies 'Companion and gives it its impact is Hancock's emphasis on the more grounded aspects of his genre-jumping script. 'There was a very specific directive,' he said. 'I didn't want this movie to look or feel like a sci-fi movie. Let's think of this as a relationship drama and filter everything through that. You want it to be more like 'Marriage Story' than 'Minority Report.' This is a breakup movie at its core.' To hear our interview with Drew Hancock, subscribe to the Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. 'Companion' opens nationwide on January 31. Best of IndieWire The 25 Best Sci-Fi TV Series of the 21st Century, Ranked The 15 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in January, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal' The Best Modern Westerns, from 'The Power of the Dog' to 'Killers of the Flower Moon' to 'The Hateful Eight'
