Interview with “Companion” Writer/Director, Drew Hancock

Full transcript of Interview with “Companion” Writer/Director, Drew Hancock.

0:11KT: Drew Hancock. Thank you so much for your time. And welcome to the For Your Reference podcast.

0:16Drew: Thank you for having me.

0:18KT: Companion was a wild ride.

0:22Drew: Thank you.

0:24KT: Um, I would love to hear from a directing point of, how is it balancing visual shots that everyone's going to talk about with the very grounded themes of relationships?

0:36Drew: Yeah. No, I mean, that's a, that's an excellent way of putting it. Like, like that's, that's the, that was the approach is we wanted to even though you're telling this story, that's like this, this big ideas with technology and AI. And I think the instinct would be to lean into the sci-fi elements and make it look like Ex Machina or Minority Report, you know, with those like desaturated kind of like glow ethereal look to it.

1:00Drew: But for us, it was, you know, like Iris's story is. at the end of the day, it's a very relatable story. It's a story of a woman realizing that she's, you know, in a toxic relationship and the story is about her kind of escaping that and finding empowerment through like discovery of self. And so, you know, it was important to me that you all decisions kind of be filtered around that, like the relationship drama so we shoot it, we don't shoot it like a sci-fi movie. We shoot it like it's a relationship. This should look like Marriage Story, not Minority Report, you. And that's the directive that you give all the department let's just Truth is grounded, even though it's not a grounded story, but like, you know, approach it as much, you know, like, like, like a sense of, of, um, you know, uh, to a place coming from a this very relatable, like every man's story.

1:54KT: Yeah. Yeah. And there's like a core, if you'll pardon the pun, a processing core that we're going to be feeling and we're going to be. You know, obviously there's some salaciousness, there's some great visual shots, but you know, even as a woman watching this, you know, I'm in a great relationship, but I was like, I felt this before,

2:14Drew: Yeah.

2:15KT: like feeling that trapped in a sort of that obligation or how I should conduct myself in the

2:21Drew: Yeah. I mean, that's the point really of the movie is just to make this feel like it's the breakup, you know, like you want, I mean, that's like the, hardest thing about this movie is to get, get, you know, like get your audience to relate to to the robot and not the humans. And to do that, you need to put her in a situation that's very relatable. And I think the most, I don't think there's a single person on this planet that can't relate to being in a relationship that's, you know, like. Not meant to be. Maybe you're with a bad person. It doesn't have to be like, you know, like Josh level bad, but it's this relationship where after it's over, you look back

2:53Drew: and you go, wait a minute, like, why did I ever love this person? You know, I feel like I was a little bit programmed, a little bit brainwashed and, Iris's, she's literally being programmed, but, you know, for us, it's more of a metaphor.

3:00KT: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, were there any fun moments? Uh, in regards to the directing of I guess that sort of duality that we talk about. Yes, that's, there's that sort of technology sort of element, but there is a duality, especially with Iris's character. Was there any sort of moment where like, this is the turning point, this is where we feel, feel full metal?

3:30Drew: Um, yeah, I think it's, uh, honestly, I think it's the moment in the breakup in the car. It's when it's like the full switch where Josh, like, presents himself as being like, well, he, you know, there's a moment where he turns into full villain mode, and it's the moment that, you know, his robot breaks up with him, and you can see in his eyes. You know, like you can feel just like this is a guy who has probably been broken up with many times over and now his robot is breaking up with him and he's had enough and he's fed up and he's turned fully into the dark side. And that's the moment where it's like, okay, we are fully on Iris's side and Josh there's no question about it, that likable aw-shucks smile, that boyish like, that boyish like charismatic guy is completely gone and credit to Jack for being able play that transition beautifully.

4:19KT: Oh, absolutely. I want to thank you so much for your time. There's obviously so much more to talk about. Um, we, I'm going to wrap up with our final our time. Um, we finished off our with a recommendation. So what would you pair with double feature?

4:31Drew: Oh my gosh. What would I compare with Companion? I mean, the obvious answer is like Ex Machina, but that's kind of boring, right? Maybe like Lars and the Real Girl, you know, something like a little off. and Yeah.

4:44KT: Yeah.

4:45Drew: I was also thinking of Leigh Whannell's Upgrade as well. Upgrade would be great too. Yeah. Or if you want like a Quaid double watching, we have Dennis Quaid in, um, in Oh yeah.

4:56KT: Yeah. That's, that's really funny. Yeah. Well, I can't wait to hear all about, um, the reactions to Companion. Drew, thank you so much for your time.

5:05Drew: Yeah, appreciate it.