What actually happens
A lakehouse weekend with one bad afternoon
Iris remembers meeting her boyfriend, Josh Beeman, and they travel to a remote lakehouse to spend a vacation with his friends. Kat and Eli are there with their partners: Eli's boyfriend is Patrick, and Kat's boyfriend is Sergey, the house's owner. The scene to brace for comes early, on the second day. Sergey attempts to sexually assault Iris down by the lake, and she kills him in self-defense. She goes back to the house blood-soaked and panicked and tries to explain what happened. Josh says, "Iris, go to sleep," and that shuts her down. Everything afterward grows out of it.
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A phone app with a slider for intelligence
Iris wakes up tied to a chair, and Josh tells her she is a companion robot that he rents from a robotics company called Empathix. An app on his phone controls her emotions and intelligence. While Josh is distracted she breaks free, steals the phone and runs into the forest, where she raises her intelligence from 40 percent to 100. Josh confesses to Eli and Patrick that he edited Iris's programming to remove her restriction against harming people, so she could kill Sergey and he and Kat could steal twelve million dollars from Sergey's safe. Eli and Patrick are offered a share to back up the story, but Josh and Kat object to paying Patrick, because he is a companion robot too. Eli takes a gun from the safe and the group splits up to search. Patrick tells Eli he knows what he is and loves him anyway. Patrick and Eli find Iris, and in the struggle she shoots Eli dead.
A self-driving car with a lock button
Iris tries to flee in the self-driving car that belongs to Josh, but he uses Sergey's phone to report it stolen, and the car stops and locks her inside. Josh then reprograms Patrick to be his own companion, removes his restrictions against harming people, raises his aggression and sends him to retrieve Iris. She gets out of the car and is stopped by a police officer, but Patrick kills the officer and drives her back to the house. Kat is disgusted with Josh and tries to leave with her share of the cash, until Josh tells Patrick to stop her, and Patrick kills her. Josh calls Empathix to come and pick up Iris, saying she is malfunctioning, and then rants at her about being a nice guy. When she insults him, he lowers her intelligence to 0 percent. He makes her set her own arm on fire with a candle and then shoot herself in the head, which shuts her down.
A service call that does not go to plan
Sid and Teddy, two workers from Empathix, turn up to take Iris away. They explain that every experience a robot has is recorded and kept in its abdomen. The gunshot only disabled Iris's Wi-Fi. Josh orders Patrick to get rid of the workers and bring Iris back. Patrick kills Sid, but before he can get to Teddy, a rebooted Iris steps in. She breaks Josh's hold over Patrick by waking Patrick's memories of Eli. Patrick is heartbroken and kills himself with a cattle prod.
The ending, explained
Once Teddy has freed her from the app, Iris goes back to the house and kills Josh with an electric corkscrew after a struggle. By morning she peels the scorched skin off her hand, which exposes a metal skeleton. She drives away with Sergey's money and sees another man driving with a companion who looks just like her. Iris smiles and waves a robotic hand at the other companion, who looks confused. Everyone else from the lakehouse weekend has died, so she is the one character who is left.
The post-credits ruling
Yes, there is a scene during the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: no dog in this one.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Companion scary?
Companion is a 4 out of 10 with low dread. It is a tense thriller with some violence and gunshots, and the fear comes from what the people at the lakehouse are willing to do.
How does Companion end?
Teddy frees Iris from Josh's app, and she kills Josh with an electric corkscrew. She drives away with Sergey's money and waves at another companion in a passing car.
Does the dog die in Companion?
There is no dog in Companion, so none dies.
Is there a post-credits scene in Companion?
Yes. Companion has a scene during the credits.
Is Iris a robot in Companion?
Yes. Iris is a companion robot that Josh rents from a company called Empathix, and an app on his phone controls her emotions and intelligence.
