It’s not great seeing movies after they’ve been spoiled for you. Part of the fun of seeing a movie for the first time is not knowing where the story will go. What will happen next? Will the hero prevail? Is there a happy ending? Not knowing the answers to these questions not only adds to the excitement, but the overall experience of watching a movie. It’s a lot harder to fully engage with a new movie and fully invest into the stakes of the story if you already know how it’ll end. The stakes don’t feel as high, the twists are no longer surprising, and the experience just feels spoiled, hence the infamous “Spoiler Alert!” warnings that pop culture has come to adapt. So why did the marketing team behind Companion (2025) choose to spoil their own movie?

Well, it wasn’t by mistake. In an interview with Rue Morgue Magazine, writer and director of Companion, Drew Hancock reveals that after the original teaser wasn’t performing as well as everyone had hoped, both the creatives and higher-ups behind the film realized that without spoiling their own movie, it was difficult to make the film stand out. Hancock also noted that when a movie markets itself as a total mystery, the audience is too busy trying to be one step ahead that they don’t get immersed in the actual story. This is what led to the decision for the official trailer of Companion to spoil what was originally a twist that would reveal itself 20 minutes into the movie.

Starring Sophie Thatcher as Iris and Jack Quaid as Josh, the two play a couple meeting some friends for a weekend away at a cabin, when all hell breaks loose after Iris kills someone. Where Companion differs from other films, is that while everyone begins freaking out, Josh says “Iris go to sleep”, and as Iris’ eyes lose all color, it is revealed that Iris is actually a robot. This is the twist that was decided to be revealed in the official trailer, and it became the hook for the rest of Companion’s marketing.

While this was arguably the best move the studio had in terms of how to market the movie, it’s a shame that this wasn’t considered beforehand, as while the twist itself was telegraphed in very smart ways prior to the reveal, the twist is also the entire premise for the movie. Potential audience members would have to select to see Companion at random in order to fully experience what the film has to offer. Even with the initial twist being spoiled, the movie itself is still a fun thriller. Thatcher’s performance as Iris carries the majority of emotion in the film, although Harvey Guillén and Lukas Gage characters’ Eli and Patrick have really the only healthy relationship in the movie, and were a nice highlight. Quaid’s portrayal as Josh has the right amount of patheticness to where it’s fun to laugh at, while still being engaging enough to actively route against. Companion may not be the perfect movie, but it is a fun one. It is a bit of a drive, but COS students can see Companion in theaters at the Regal locations in Fresno, at both the East Shields Ave and Riverpark locations.