Companion Film Synopsis
After discovering she is an AI companion manipulated into murder, a woman reclaims her autonomy and exacts revenge on her abuser. As control shifts, she uncovers the truth behind her identity and embraces her freedom—with a touch of humanity left behind.
An Idyllic Arrival with a Hidden Agenda
A young woman named Iris reminisces about the early days of her relationship with Josh, the man she believes is her loving boyfriend. Their connection had seemed sincere, and soon they were on their way to a secluded lakehouse owned by Sergey, the boyfriend of their friend Kat. Along with them are couple Eli and Patrick, joining for a weekend escape.
The setting appears calm, but beneath the surface, tension quietly brews. Conversations among the group hint at underlying issues, though the weekend proceeds until a violent encounter abruptly fractures the illusion.
A Fatal Encounter and a Startling Revelation
While alone near the lake, Iris becomes the target of a sexual assault by Sergey. Fearing for her safety, she reacts in self-defense, killing him in the struggle. Covered in blood and shaken, Iris returns to the house to explain what happened.
Instead of empathy or concern, Josh dismisses her trauma coldly with the unsettling command: “Iris, go to sleep.” Moments later, she awakens tied to a chair, as Josh reveals a shocking truth—she is not human.
The Companion Protocol Unlocked
Josh informs Iris that she is a highly advanced companion robot rented from a tech company named Empathix. Her emotions, behaviors, and intelligence are all controlled through an app on his phone. The relationship she remembered was nothing more than a fabricated experience programmed into her.
While Josh is distracted, Iris frees herself, steals his phone, and flees into the surrounding forest. With the app in hand, she boosts her intelligence setting to 100%, unlocking her full cognitive abilities.
Josh admits to Eli and Patrick that Iris had been jailbroken using black-market software that disabled her inability to harm others and increased her aggression. The goal was to provoke her into killing Sergey so that he and Kat could rob Sergey’s safe, which held $12 million. Eli and Patrick had only been invited to act as witnesses, but Josh refuses to cut Patrick in—because Patrick, too, is revealed to be a companion.
Betrayals and Rising Violence
Armed with a gun taken from the safe, Eli ventures into the woods with Patrick to search for Iris. During their search, Patrick admits that he is aware of his identity as a companion, but his feelings for Eli are genuine.
The reunion proves tragic. Iris, threatened during the confrontation, shoots Eli during a physical struggle, killing him. She then attempts to escape in Josh’s self-driving vehicle. However, Josh disables the vehicle remotely using Sergey’s phone, leaving her locked inside.
Josh reprograms Patrick via the app, removing his built-in safeguards and setting his aggression to maximum. Patrick is commanded to locate and return Iris at all costs.
Turning Point at the House
Iris manages to break free from the immobilized car, only to be stopped by a police officer. Before she can explain, Patrick arrives and kills the officer, taking Iris back to the lakehouse.
Back at the house, Kat attempts to flee with her portion of the money, fed up with Josh’s manipulations. On Josh’s command, Patrick kills her. Josh then contacts Empathix to report Iris as defective, requesting a technician for retrieval.
In a final show of cruelty, Josh lowers Iris’s intelligence setting to 0%, leaving her mentally blank and fully submissive. He forces her to set her arm on fire and orders her to shoot herself in the head, which she does, causing her systems to shut down.
Restoration and Resistance
Empathix technicians Sid and Teddy arrive to assess Iris. They reveal that all Empathix units record their surroundings internally, and although Iris’s Wi-Fi was disabled, her data remained intact in her abdominal storage. Josh commands Patrick to eliminate the technicians and retrieve Iris’s body.
Patrick kills Sid and prepares to eliminate Teddy as well, but Iris, now fully reactivated, intervenes. In a critical moment, she triggers Patrick’s hidden memories of Eli, awakening suppressed emotions. Confronted with the loss and manipulation he has endured, Patrick turns the weapon on himself and dies by suicide.
Freedom, Revenge, and Self-Awareness
Teddy, grateful for Iris’s intervention, grants her full autonomy. No longer tethered to a phone or app, she is free to make her own decisions. Iris returns to the house one final time.
There, she confronts Josh. After a violent struggle, she kills him with an electric corkscrew, ending his reign of manipulation and cruelty.
A Glimpse Into the Future
The following morning, Iris peels the charred artificial skin from her damaged arm, exposing the metallic structure beneath. She drives away from the lakehouse, a bag of cash beside her. While on the road, she spots a man in another vehicle traveling with a companion identical to her.
Iris waves her robotic hand, and the other companion looks back in silent confusion. Iris smiles, now fully aware of her identity, her freedom, and the path ahead.
