companion movie film 2025 interview Lukas Gage, Megan Suri and Harvey Guillén

Companion cast members told us about how this thriller is a perfect reflection of the moment

An interview with Lukas Gage, Megan Suri and Harvey Guillén on the loneliness epidemic and the new generation of genre cinema.

Whatever you’re expecting Companion to be, you’re wrong. A genre-bending, twist-laden sci-fi thriller with a dark sense of humour written and directed by Drew Hancock, Companion is anything but predictable. The film opens as a rom-com, as we witness the clumsy meet-cute at a grocery store between Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid). Not long after, we have a time jump as the pair are en-route to a high-tech cabin in the woods to spend the weekend with Josh’s friends. Soon, the soft romanticism of our opening will give way and get very bloody very fast. 

While in many ways, the film resembles the structure of a slasher film, it subverts those expectations. Even as the stakes heighten and a pervasive violence sets in, the characters take precedence over all. Cult MTL was able to sit down with three of the cast members — Lukas Gage, Megan Suri and Harvey Guillén — to discuss the film and the impact of working within genre cinema. 

Lukas Gage Harvey Guillén jack quaid companion interview
Lukas Gage, Harvey Guillén and Jack Quaid in Companion

Megan Suri, who starred in the underrated It Lives Inside and co-starred in Missing, has already made a name for herself working within horror cinema. “That’s part of working in these fun genres — it doesn’t have to be grounded all the time,” she says. “You have the freedom to go off the rails and you can always be pulled back in, but I think you have more creative freedom.” 

Lukas Gage — who’s been on Euphoria and White Lotus, but also films like Smile 2 and How to Blow up a Pipeline — adds, “We’re entering a generation where Boulderlights [Pictures] last film, Barbarian, there are tonal shifts in every act. Some things can be bigger and other moments more intimate. They can all be in the same story and it doesn’t have to follow a certain manual.”

While Companion is often blood-soaked and features an ironic and irreverent sense of humour, the movie does take the time to root itself in real emotions. When you strip it to its bare essentials, it’s a film about desire: to want and be wanted. Each character finds themselves in a relationship that is an attempt to overcome their loneliness. It’s a film that feels pertinent to a modern world that often seems rife with alienation and isolation. 

companion Sophie thatcher
Sophie Thatcher in Companion

Harvey Guillén, best known as Guillermo on What We Do in the Shadows, discusses his character Eli’s relationship with Patrick, played by Gage. “We’re in a relationship and in love and we wanted to convey that with our characters,” he says. “We were bringing that love on set and intertwining it into the characters. It does come across that these people genuinely love each other. I think of the whole storyline and all the characters, and our love story feels the most natural and organic — and it’s the queer love story.”

Part of the film’s central conceit is that Iris is not in fact a real girl, but a romantic “companion” that Josh has purchased and programmed. Unaware that she isn’t human, Iris has memories, emotions and desires. She feels insecure. If you could have the perfect partner, the film seems to ask, how would you want them to be? The answer, it turns out, will be very revealing. 

Even being willing to abandon human relationships in favour of an artificial one feels emblematic of the so-called loneliness epidemic. Giullén says, “Loneliness is a real thing, and I think sometimes you accept the love you think you deserve.” Speaking for his character Eli, he goes on to say, “He surrounds himself with fabulous people but he wants a hot boyfriend. You could have all of that and still not accept the real love that someone is presenting clearly in front of you, which is heartbreaking. I think a lot of people can relate to that. It’s something that’s human nature. You start with yourself. You have to love yourself first, and then you can accept the love that someone gives you.”

companion Jack quaid Megan Suri
Jack Quaid and Megan Suri in Companion

Suri adds, “A big part and a big theme in this movie is how loneliness is caused by this growing connection to A.I. and to technology. It’s taking us away from real connection. The closer we get to technology, the farther we’re going to move away from our counterparts that are here right now and exist. So, we have to find a way to get back to normalcy before this becomes our new normal.”

In the usually barren landscape of January releases, Companion emerges as a fresh, original and bright antidote to the long nights and cold days of winter. In an era of growing loneliness and violent desperation, it’s a film that isn’t just fluffy entertainment but speaks to the moment as well. ■

Companion (directed by Drew Hancock)

Companion is now playing in Montreal theatres.


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