Companion Was The Catharsis I Needed

This year was the first Valentine’s Day I spent alone in two years - and less than a month after the end of a rough relationship, too. It sounds depressing as hell, I know, but thank god for cinema because Companion basically saved me. I didn’t watch it on Valentine’s Day itself - that was reserved for the eternal classic Down With Love - but I did watch it a few days beforehand and I genuinely think it’s changed my brain chemistry over the past few weeks. So to all the recently single, the bitterly single, and especially the hard-done-by girlies out there, let me tell you why you need to watch Companion, like, yesterday.

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I’m going to spoil the movie a bit, but don’t worry too much because there’s no way that anything I write here could come close to the experience of actually watching Companion. The film tells the story of Iris, a beautiful young woman who is head-over-heels in love with her boyfriend Josh. We quickly realise that he's far from a perfect boyfriend - he’s a bit dismissive and something just feels off - but hey, who are we to judge? There must be a reason someone as great as Iris loves him, right?

Well here’s Companion’s first lesson for you : trust your instincts

It turns out that Josh and Iris’s relationship is all a lie, because she’s little more than a companion robot he bought one day… And now, he’s jailbroken her so he can use her to murder a rich guy and take off with the money. When Iris learns what he’s done AND that he plans to have her deactivated as well, she’s obviously horrified - but she’s programmed to love him so much that she could never hurt him. I won’t go into any more details, but let’s just say that that little restriction doesn’t stop things from getting real gorey, real fast.

Now you might be thinking that the reason Companion was so cathartic for me is because I hate men and enjoy seeing them get hurt, which, ouch... But I won’t lie to you. The fantasy of getting revenge on the manipulative and cruel people is definitely part of the appeal. Really, though, I liked the film because I felt seen. It might be weird to hear that I identify with Iris, a sex robot - in a lot of ways, but then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of women did.

At one point in the film, we see Iris discover the settings Josh has chosen for her, and the one that really stuck with me was how low he set her intelligence. It was horrifying to think about, until I remembered all the ways past partners of mine did their best to effectively choose my settings too. Religion, clothes, politics, and even sexual preferences seem to all be silly little options in some men’s eyes rather than, oh I don’t know, a core part of a person’s identity.

Even more shockingly, I slowly started identifying with the idea of being “programmed” to love someone unconditionally, even when they don’t actually deserve it. How many women hear from a young age that they have to be forgiving and understanding? Or that boys will be boys? It might not be intentional, but when that message is drilled into your head by your family and society at large from birth, it quickly amounts to a kind of psychological programming that leaves women vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. In the end, it's depressingly similar to being a companion android.

All of this can be applied to men and non-binary people, too, of course - it’s just a bit more culturally common for women. But either way, if you felt a little pain in your heart reading all that, go watch Companion now. There’s no better reminder that you are amazing as you are and don’t need anyone who treats you with less respect than you deserve than watching a young woman fighting for her right to her own humanity and identity. Ever since I watched the film, I’ve felt more confident and more willing to be a bitch than ever, in the best way possible. I wasn’t sure who I was after my breakup. Hell, I didn’t even really know who I could be. But thanks to Companion, I’ve finally started remembering that I just have to be who I choose.

I know it’s early, but I can say with absolute certainty that Companion is going to be one of my favourite films this year. It’s insightful, interesting, and honestly just a blast to watch. If you’re jilted or heartbroken, I can’t think of any better pick-me-up, and if you aren’t, well, I’m happy for you I guess? But also I’m sure you can enjoy a new take on the classic feminine rage story. Either way, I’m sure you’ll find catharsis as you imagine what it would be like to kill the assholes in your life, and if you ask me, that’s what really counts.