Warning: This article contains spoilers for Companion.Companion, the latest horror feature from the team behind Barbarian, revealed one of its most important twists long before the movie’s release. Now in theaters, Companion is described as being about a young woman’s weekend trip gone wrong, and the first teaser trailer was released back in October 2024. This promotion showed Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) sitting at a dinner table. Iris is handcuffed to her chair, setting an eerie tone. The Companion teaser ends with Josh pushing a candle across the table and lighting Iris’ arm on fire while she remains stone still, only shedding a single tear.
Another trailer was then released in January 2025 and shows much more than the initial Companion teaser. Audiences learned then that Iris is actually a robot, serving as an AI girlfriend for Josh. The longer trailer also revealed the movie’s opening and closing lines, when Iris speaks in a voice-over, telling the audience that the happiest days of her life were the day when she met Josh and the day when she killed him. Reviews admit Companion gave away some strong components too early, but it is actually an illustration of how complex modern movie marketing can be.
Companion’s Marketing Campaign Made Iris’ Robot Twist Obvious
A Careful Eye Could Spot Iris’ True Identity
While the full trailer features stronger hints towards the movie’s central conflict, a key, revelatory moment in Companion‘s initial teaser trailer is obviously when Josh places a candle under Iris’ hand. She holds her arm above the candle before her skin begins to melt while her entire arm catches fire. The fact that Iris does not move an inch indicates something is not quite right with her. The average person would quickly, instinctively move their hand out of the way in the face of fire, but she remains perfectly still.
Furthermore, the official posters for Companion showed Sophie Thatcher’s Iris with completely white, pupil-less eyes. An attentive viewer could deduce that Iris is something other than human based on this visual. Finally, the film’s tagline, “Find someone made just for you,” hints that Iris is artificial, given the use of the word “made.” When people actually see the movie, they come to learn that Iris was not found by Josh, but rather ordered online.
Companion Would Have Been Better Off Hiding The Truth About Iris
Companion’s Robot Twist Would Have Been An Exciting Surprise
A twist makes a film more exciting, and Companion is admittedly full of them. The truth about Iris is revealed at the end of the film’s first act after being teased throughout the opening scenes. Josh refers to her as “Beep-Boop,” instructs her to “go to sleep,” and savors the fact that she, quite literally, cannot lie to him. All of these details hint that Iris is different from your average human woman, but her true identity is finally exposed when Josh instructs her to “sleep” in broad daylight and her eyes roll back into her head, transforming into a pupil-less white.

7 Reasons Companion’s Reviews Are So Positive
The 2025 genre-blending psychological thriller-comedy Companion has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of 93%.
Discovering Iris is a robot companion rather than Josh’s actual human girlfriend adds an exciting spin to Companion. Had the trailers not spoiled this key plot point, audiences would have been surprised by the robot reveal that happens about 15 minutes into the movie. Essentially, Companion could have been advertised as an entirely different psychological relationship thriller, likely still hinting at something sinister going on, and then won the benefits of the audience suddenly realizing they are in for a different genre altogether. However, Companion boasts other twists that keep viewers on their toes.
It Was Impossible To Properly Promote Companion Without Showing The Robot Story
The Robot Plot Twist Intrigued Audiences
Despite the reveal acting as a pseudo-spoiler for Companion, it was the correct decision to give the movie its proper promotion. In an interview with Far Out, director Drew Hancock explained that the trailer did not feature a true spoiler, saying: “There are twists, turns, and a tonal pivot that reinvents itself every ten, fifteen minutes.” Hancock also described the early reveal as a way to sell the movie as audiences want to know more about what they’re seeing prior to buying a ticket. In a different interview with Entertainment Weekly, he also said:
“The silver lining of showing the audience [that] this is a movie about a robot is it’s a way to kind of get ahead of anyone dismissing it as another robot movie. […] ‘No, this is a robot movie, but it’s not like any other robot movie that’s out right now.’ It’s not A.I. gone wrong, it’s A.I. gone right”
By telling audiences that Iris is a robot, the Companion trailer further intrigues a potential viewer, particularly someone interested in sci-fi films. The initial teaser trailer is vague, which could potentially turn someone away if they don’t believe they have enough information about the movie. Companion sets audiences up for an AI-thrill ride by revealing Iris’ true identity while still leaving plenty of space for other secret twists.
Source: Far Out, Entertainment Weekly

Companion
- Release Date
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January 31, 2025
- Runtime
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97 Minutes
- Director
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Drew Hancock
- Writers
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Drew Hancock