Plenty of desperate singles out there are fed up with the dating scene, and maybe some would be willing to leave human companions behind in favor of a seemingly more agreeable and perfectly matched artifical partner. That’s exactly the kind of depraved market that the producers of Barbarian are tapping into with their upcoming film. After the success of the 2022 horror film, which broke a chain of tired, horror-genre copycats, Barbarian filmmaker Zach Cregger is back helping director Drew Hancock show off his new AI partners in the upcoming Warner Bros. sci-fi film Companion, which just released a new trailer.
The new trailer for the horror thriller depicts a dark alternative to AI relationships that audiences once romanticized in films like Her and Blade Runner 2049. Our greatest fears come true when a billionaire dies, causing a chain of seemingly unfortunate and bloody events for an AI bot named Iris and her human friends during their weekend trip to the dead man’s lakeside estate. The trailer is a shocking display of everything that could possibly go wrong in a relationship with a robot, including self-hacking and body-slashing, reinforcing the idea that maybe you shouldn’t get an AI girlfriend if you don’t want to end up getting outsmarted by a walking computer.
The horror-romance stars Sophie Thatcher, most recently seen in Heretic, as an AI companion named Iris who causes some intense problems for her human cohorts. Jack Quaid from the hit Prime Video series The Boys plays her ill-fated love interest in a packed ensemble cast alongside Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, and Rupert Friend. Written and directed by Hancock in his directorial debut, the new-age love story is sure to make you never want to interact with AI again. Check out the trailer in all its bloody glory below.
Get Your Own Companion Today!
While unconventional marketing tactics are not unheard of, especially with horror films, Companion takes it to a new level of immersion by giving fans the opportunity to try to find their own, tailored-to-their-personality AI companion by simply texting a number. Companion‘s Instagram posted a video advertising a ‘FindYourCompanion’ service, encouraging fans to text the number 978-878-5683 to find their own companion today.
After giving the chatbot your first name and answering some basic dating preference questions (with a couple of foreboding comments from the bot), and sending the number a selfie, you get a personalized and highly satirized dating profile to share with your friends. What better way to promote the upcoming horror sci-fi film about a murderous AI companion?
Companion originally had a theatrical release date of January 19, but it has been moved to January 31, with tickets available for purchase now. Let’s hope Warner Bros. doesn’t use our data (and sympathy for humanoid beings) against us, but judging from the trailer, they probably will.
Companion
- Release Date
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January 31, 2025
- Director
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Drew Hancock
- Main Genre
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Sci-Fi