How technology makes affection accessible and customizable
This is a movie about a robot that is far from your ordinary Tamagotchi.
Companion (2025, written and directed by Drew Hancock) is an excellent choice for a Valentine’s Day film—if both of you are open to a different kind of story about a warped relationship built out of love or one that can be purchased and programmed.
This is not a rom-com, but personally, there are plenty of funny moments, thanks to the whip-smart script and a cast of young, beautiful, and morally bankrupt characters.
Companion stars Jack Quaid (son of 1990s rom-com queen Meg Ryan and current nutjob Trumper Dennis Quaid), who initially comes off as charming but makes for a great character study in descent and desperation.
People dismiss Jack Quaid as a nepo baby, but he has built a solid string of acting choices—from the blink-and-you-miss-it enemy in The Hunger Games (2012) to the hapless lead battling superhumans in The Boys (2019–present).
It bears mentioning Meg Ryan because of one detail that made me laugh out loud: the moment when Jack Quaid’s character meets his love interest, Iris (played by Sophie Thatcher in an ultimate scene-stealing role—every scene she is in, she controls with her ingénue face that can shift from eager to disgusted) for the first time, “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls is playing. This is funny because that particular song skyrocketed to cheesy karaoke fame and became a wedding march staple thanks to Meg Ryan’s movie City of Angels (1998). In that film, Meg Ryan falls in love with a non-human entity. That’s exactly what Companion is all about.
Films about humans falling in love with technology have long been a cinematic fascination. Her (2013) explored it with softness; Electric Dreams (1984) provided the camp, and the concept of the “robot”—or, more precisely, the automaton—traces its origins far beyond cinema. Once a toy for the elite, the automaton was a curio of entertainment and fascination.
Companion’s automaton delves into sci-fi master Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics:
(1) A robot cannot injure a human being; (2) A robot must follow human commands unless it results in harm to another human; and (3) A robot can protect itself, as long as it doesn’t violate the first two laws.
Sci-fi nerds and horror movie fans will appreciate the genius of Companion, as the film scuppers these laws of robotics—leading to pure chaos.
The movie’s strength lies in the plausibility of manufactured companions becoming real. This is not just about the leaps and bounds of current mechanized sex toys but how the non-carbon-based entity—non-human or machine—becomes part of the cultural fabric. We can speak to Alexa or Siri for our queries. Recently, there has been chatter on TikTok about how ChatGPT can be used for therapy. Some of us have even developed relationships with life-sized dolls.
The thing with technology is that it is still primarily inert in the sense that it does our bidding. But with the fast-paced advancements in AI technology and robotics, how long will we have to wait for a robotic companion to become possible?
If the plot feels familiar, I don’t blame you for thinking this is like the Netflix sci-fi series Black Mirror (2011–present). However, Companion is a wild ride that should not be restricted to a series episode runtime. The writing and direction ensure that the movie becomes a case study of a contemporary Frankenstein. This is a movie about a robot that is far from your ordinary Tamagotchi.
You may reach Chong Ardivilla at kartunistatonto@gmail.com or chonggo.bsky.social
