How do you feel about sexbots? If you’re reading this, your reaction is probably, “EWWWWWWWW.” There’s nothing wrong with that reaction. It’s normal, and suitable for most situations. But hear me out, because I’m of two minds here. The first is, understandably, “EWWWWWWWW,” and yet the second is a little more charitable, and I’ll tell you why.
We are in a deep hole in this country at this time. As I write this, the new government is trying to get rid of USAID and the Department of Education. It is also purging the FBI of anyone who investigated Trump (for his many, many crimes committed); in addition, it is threatening to displace all Palestinians from Gaza and exporting US citizens to prisons in El Salvador. None of this is good. None of this will help the United States move forward or grow. And, I believe, it is all propelled by small-minded, insecure, and fearful white men. What do they fear? Lack of control. And so they’ve decided to lash out on, literally, everyone. They desire above all to control everything they fear – women, minorities, rules, government, the future … and they’re willing to destroy everything just to get a small semblance of control. For these men, I say sexbots are a good thing. Here. Have a sexbot. Here is a thing you can control to your fearful, black-hearted content. “She” does everything you want. “She” will never say “no” to you, or ask you to call “her” by special pronouns, or rant about historical misogyny. If such had kept these assholes from voting for Trump, I’d gladly have supported a sexbot in every household.
Iris (Sophie Thatcher) recalls her meet cute. Josh (Jack Quaid) was so stunned by her beauty that he knocked over all the oranges in a display at the supermarket. Sure, it was adorable. And completely fabricated. What part? All of it. Oh, from Iris’ perspective, it was a real memory all right. But a programmed one. You see, Iris is a robot. And that’s something we don’t find out until after she kills Sergey.
Josh and Iris have a weekend retreat planned at Sergey’s country house. Sergey (Rupert Friend) is the most common cliché in modern film: an amoral Russian playboy oligarch. For me, this character can’t die soon enough, so I’m glad it didn’t take all that long. The question is how? And why? Especially when the perpetrator is a robot programmed never to lie or hurt humans. Huh. Well somebody didn’t get the memo.
I know. I know. You’re already saying, “JIM! SPOILERS!!” And you’re not wrong as I didn’t know what I’m telling you until the end of Act I. But there’s plenty more here, and I won’t mess with you any longer.
There are those of us who fear the AI revolution and those of us who welcome it. I’m in both camps and neither camp at the same time. I want to see what artists have
to say about it before I decide and writer/director Drew Hancock has a great deal to say in the improvised thriller, Companion. This is a sharp film. It toys with you, suggesting future plot points without giving the store away. And it does a better job of describing human nature through robots than most any film describing humans through humans. Companion is completely wasted on January, where most non-Oscar new releases are failures. Companion is neither, and while it wouldn’t win any awards, I still wish it had been released at a time in which the film would be taken seriously. Perhaps streaming will make up for what theaters did not.
There was once a robot named Iris
No more human than a sheet of papyrus
When threatened eye-to-eye
“She” up and killed a guy
Are sexbots the new human virus?
Rated R, 97 Minutes
Director: Drew Hancock
Writer: Drew Hancock
Genre: My scheming sexbot
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Robot sympathizers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: AI fearers
