Well… how to talk about a movie that most people probably already know the surprise to due to the trailer? Especially when I didn’t see those trailers and was surprised myself. Hmm…. I guess as vaugelly as possible?

Companion stars Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid as a happily dating couple who visit a friend of a friend’s very expensive house in the woods. Soon someone is manipulated into murder and now the survivors have to clean up the mess. A mess pinned on Thatcher.

While I can’t say the certain details for fear of spoilers, I can say I laughed a lot. It’s, in part, a comedy thriller at the very least. I loved its arch sense of humor as it plays with its various genres and allows its actors to have fun and revel in wicked screenwriting.

There’s a theme of men vs women power dynamics that I felt, for quite some time, to be pretty basic. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t saying anything particularly unique, especially when other films with similar themes have done it too. But then the third act hits and suddenly those themes morphed into something smarter. I’m not sure how surprised I was so much as pleased it didn’t stick with the basic narrative.

That said, the final act is also a great big mess of moving parts. It feels like they ran out of ideas and just stitched together turn-abouts and twists until they finally reached the point of the movie. Kind of a little tiresome, but not so much it hurts the film.

Bonus points for Sophie Thatcher. We’ve seen her in a few movies already, especially Heretic. But she’s great in this film, able to stretch her acting chops even further. She had me rooting for her from the start, especially in instances like where she had to carry the luggage. “Boo! Bad boyfriend!” I said. And later… “oh… clever screenwriting!”

So, yeah, pretty wicked, twisty, and fun little flick with some genuine surprises… if you avoid the trailers. I did and was able to have that “ah ha!” moment that recontextualized the film up to that point. Always nice… assuming the marketing people didn’t ruin yet another movie.

Score: 86