Companion · reception & legacy
2025 · Drew Hancock
How Companion has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A January release that turned out to be a sleeper — critics and audiences embraced it immediately, and within months it had settled in as one of 2025's word-of-mouth horror hits, the rare 'dump month' movie people kept recommending all year.
What's debated
The forever-debate is whether the trailer gave away too much — Hancock himself has weighed in on the spoiler-marketing question — with fans split on whether knowing the premise going in ruins it or barely matters.
Its footprint
It became instant shorthand in the 'good for her' corner of film Twitter and Letterboxd, endlessly paired with Ex Machina and M3GAN in AI-girlfriend-discourse threads, and cemented Sophie Thatcher's run as the moment's favorite new scream queen.
Where it stands
A certified Letterboxd darling — the kind of crowd-pleasing genre debut people cite when arguing that original mid-budget horror is alive and well.
Named by the director
Influences Drew Hancock has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.
- Marriage Story (2019) — Hancock said he wanted it to feel 'more like Marriage Story than Minority Report' — at its core, a breakup movie.
- Fargo (1996) — He cites it as an all-time favorite and a model for mixing comedy with violence.
- Ex Machina (2014) — Named by Hancock as essential related viewing, 'for obvious reasons.'
- Charade (1963) — Hancock recommended it as a touchstone for the film's twisty, tonally playful thriller mode.
- Joel and Ethan Coen — Hancock credited the Coens' tonal balancing act as a guiding influence on the film's comedy-horror blend.