An Android Girlfriend And A Werewolf Husband

Companion
New Line Cinema (2025)
This is an excellent movie that could have been so much better.  According to Deadline, the marketing team behind Companion spent $29 million dollars promoting a film that cost about $10 million to make in the weeks leading up to its release.  This included numerous trailers, posters, and other advertisements that spoil most of the story.

First came the teaser trailer.  It's not bad as far as trailers go, except for the inclusion of the scene where Iris holds her hand over a candle and lights her arm on fire.  That kind of thing really sticks in your head when you see it.  The problem is that this scene happens at the end of the movie, so the big scene in the middle of the film where Iris makes her escape through the woods is robbed of all of its tension because whatever she does, you know she's going to end up right back at the house to set her arm on fire at the dining room table.

For as bad as that is, the full trailer is even worse.  If you were to go into this movie cold, without ever seeing a single trailer or knowing anything about the plot, you wouldn't know that Iris is a robot until about a half hour into the film after a dramatic scene.  There are a few hints along the way that I'm sure some folks in the audience would pick up on, but to the average moviegoer, the reveal that Iris isn't human would be a shock that would make you sit up in your seat and wonder where this story is going.  That feeling is stolen from the audience with this trailer, and with the numerous posters and marketing materials that reveal that Iris is a robot.  What's the point of laying out breadcrumbs for a big plot twist if you just come right out and tell the audience what it is ahead of time?

Companion really is an excellent film movie that I highly recommend, but god damn it, why did they have to spoil so much of it?  There's more I want to say about the story, but all I can think about is how much better it could have been.  For as much as I enjoyed this film, I hope it loses money at the box office just to stick it to the jackasses on their marketing team and stop them from patting themselves on the back for a job poorly done.

Wolf Man

Blumhouse Productions (2025)
Whereas Companion is getting a lot of positive buzz from critics and fans alike (and rightfully so despite my complaints), the reviews for Wolf Man have been pretty underwhelming.  I wanted to go see it when it first opened, but everything I read about it made it sounds like it was a disappointment.  I can't imagine why though.  I thought it was a solid werewolf flick with good special effects and cinematography, and excellent performances from the cast.

The husband and wife in the movie aren't exactly on the brink of divorce, but it's pretty clear that their relationship is not in a great place at the start of the film.  It's all too easy for a filmmaker to fall into tired old tropes with characters like these where they have the couple bicker and get snippy with each other, but this movie falls into none of those traps.  Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner are believable.  You don't find yourself rooting for one over the other because they're not in opposition to each other.  They're just going through some stuff.  Then they go through a hell of a lot more in the Oregon woods.

This movie served as a reminder that I shouldn't let the critics or the social media buzz inspire me to stay home instead of going out to see something for myself.  If someone has something to say that makes me want to see something that I otherwise might not have shown interest in, that's fine.  I'm all for someone opening a door for me... but I need to stop letting those same people close those doors.