Warning: The following article includes SPOILERS for CompanionThe Companion mid-credits scene is explained by director Drew Hancock. The sci-fi horror movie follows Iris (Sophie Thatcher), whose remote getaway, accompanied by her partner Josh (Jack Quaid) and their friends, quickly spirals out of control when someone dies. An early twist, spoiled by the marketing, reveals that Iris is actually a companion robot, altered by Josh to murder Sergey (Rupert Friend) for his money. Upon learning this, and that she would be taken by the company, Empathix, Iris plots her escape. This leads to more deaths and a Companion mid-credits sequence, where she encounters another near-identical robot.

During a recent interview with The Wrap, Hancock explained the ending of Companion and how it’s meant “to remind the audience that this is a lot more complicated than her just driving off.” The writer/director added that it is still possible for Iris to be tracked down, and that her seeing a companion robot, so similar in appearance, suggests there will be others. Read more of Hancock’s comments below:

She still has a tracking chip in her hand. She still has Empathix [the robotics company] out there. And I think that was the easiest reminder is just to show that she’s going to go into a world that there are a bunch of other women that look like her and that the world is bigger than this house in the middle of nowhere.

What These Comments Mean For Companion

For Iris, The Road Ahead May Not Be Any Easier

Throughout the movie, Iris comes to accept that she is not human, and that none of her memories or emotions are real. Compared to Patrick (Lukas Gage), who discovered he was a companion robot on his own, she was bluntly informed by Josh, mere moments after killing Sergey. Once she gained a sense of autonomy and was granted control of her programming, Iris finally murders her boyfriend and removes the burnt skin around her arm. By the end of Companion, she takes Sergey’s money and acknowledges the other android, who seems unaware of her reality.

While Iris manages to free herself from Josh and a potential reboot, which would cause her to forget that she is a companion, these comments by Hancock suggest that the road ahead will entail more challenges. She cannot avoid capture when her whereabouts are so easily traceable, and as the mid-credits scene reveals, other Iris robots exist. Considering that an Empathix employee recognizes Patrick as one of their models, Iris is bound to run into someone familiar with her appearance, making it tough to conceal her idenтιтy forever.

Our Take On The Companion Mid-Credits Scene

Iris Will Control Her Own Destiny

If a Companion sequel does not happen, despite its ending leaving the door open for that possibility, it is worth wondering how Iris will navigate the future. She may be in control and more intelligent, but she will have to constantly dodge pursuers, or remove her own tracker. She can seemingly do whatever she wants with her life, and her reaction to that similar-looking companion robot in the mid-credits scene demonstrates how independent and accepting she has become, but Hancock’s comments indicate that to remain happy, she may need to be careful.

Source: The Wrap