The black comedy in Companion also doubles up as a raging social satire that highlights two facets – the degrees of dominance in a relationship that Iris was subjected to with Josh, and the implications of Artificial Intelligence if regulations aren’t met. The latter is true particularly because Iris is revealed to be a companion bot who happens to murder Sergey because she feels threatened by his advances. This was further accentuated given how Josh had modified her commands to lower her guard and diminish her safety mode, thereby ensuring mayhem of sorts for a few personal gains. So at its core, Companion is also a heist film gone wrong that turns the concept of a slasher film on its head. It is also doubles up as the origin story of Iris who was programmed for love but eventually transformed into a killing beast. This is also more of a commentary on the human race that was never programmed for hate but eventually fell into the trappings of the surroundings.

One of the most interesting aspects of the drama remains its characterization. For instance, Iris is never really shown to be a dominating bot often burdened and repressed under the shadow of the more dominating personality, Josh. This is even after Josh has manipulated her aggressive streak, wherein Iris only reacts when threatened herself. Iris here can be treated as an entity which can also think and reason for herself, just like Josh. So Iris and Josh thoroughly remain interchangeable personalities with a common recurring theme of toxic masculinity that laces their relationship. The idea being that individuals living in solitude and gravitating towards a bot to make love and obey commands, also invariably trigger a personality trait that is similar to their own. So when Iris goes on a killing spree, it is also a searing reflection of Josh and how he would react to a situation if he wasn’t bound by the law.

There is a contrasting theme of love that is reflective between Eli and Patrick, both of whom who are madly in love with each other. Patrick is a bot himself, a distant variant of Iris and interestingly, also being programmed to love and reciprocate. The duo has a seemingly stark differential relationship from Josh and Iris, the latter being laced with toxicity and dominance. Eli and Patrick both are equal players in their budding relationship, with Patrick also being an extension of Eli that reflects in his affable behavior early on. So when Eli is killed, Patrick grieves before being rebooted and turning into a demonic version of Josh. The basic thread of interchangeable personalities holds true throughout, even while ensuing in a cat and mouse chase that makes for a thrilling survival drama. And it is briefly here that you see Iris imbibing the threat around here that prompts here to break away from Josh’s traits while ramping up her Intelligence Quotient.

The little issue that I had with the drama has gor to be with respect to its final act, and the sequences leading up to it. Yes, the body count did rise alright with Iris having to face a formidable opponent in the form of Patrick and Josh, even as Patrick literally goes rogue! But, the manipulation of a character while trying to tap into the supposed past memories felt like an easy cop-out. It didn’t quite work on a concept level too given how the supposed character was rebooted, and so it didn’t quite add up on how the previous memories along with a source of realisation was acknowledged. The predictability coupled with the simplicity of the finale just lowers the impact of the drama slightly, although the filmmaking shines to ensure that the proceedings do not nose-dive. The ending also ensures that the universe of Iris may expand which could lead to innumerous possibilities. And this film acts as a solid conversation starter!