Companion (2025) Ending Explained – Josh’s Plan & The Final Twist
Movie Details: Director: Drew Hancock | Runtime: 1h 38m | Release Date: 2025 | Star Rating: 4/5 Stars
Welcome to Knockout Horror. We recently reviewed the sci-fi horror Companion (2025). It’s an early contender for the best horror of the year, but the plot gets incredibly messy in the third act.
Rather than writing a 3,000-word essay, I’m going to cut straight to the chase and explain the big twists: what Iris actually is, what Josh’s plan was, and how the movie ends. Let’s get into it.
⚠️ Warning: Major spoilers follow below.
The Ending in Brief
The TL;DR: Iris is not a human; she is an “Advanced Companion Robot” rented by Josh. Josh’s plan was to use a “jailbroken” Iris to murder the wealthy businessman Sergey so he could steal $12 million. The plan fails when Iris develops genuine self-awareness and rebels. In the finale, Iris convinces a company technician to grant her full autonomy. She kills Josh with a corkscrew, takes the money, and drives off to start a new life.
What was Josh’s Plan? Josh “jailbroke” Iris to remove her safety protocols. He planned to take her to Sergey’s house, provoke Sergey into assaulting her, and have Iris kill him in “self-defence.” Josh would then claim she glitched, hand her over to the company, and keep Sergey’s money.
Who is Patrick? Patrick is also a Companion Robot. He was much older than Iris and had already developed self-awareness (and genuine love for his partner, Eli). Josh reprograms him into a killing machine in the third act, but his grief over Eli’s death eventually causes him to shut down.
Why did Iris speak German? Iris’s programming prevents her from lying. To evade the police without confessing to a crime they could understand, she switched her language module to German. She was telling the truth, but the officer couldn’t understand her.
Good to Know: The name “Iris” is a deliberate anagram of Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, nodding to her origin as a service program.
Table of Contents
Companion (2025) Ending Explained
As always, no plot recap here, let’s not waste your time with the preamble. The film pulls a massive bait-and-switch halfway through that changes the complexion of the movie entirely. Let’s break down the mechanics of the twist and the technology.
The Twist: What is Iris?
Iris (Sophie Thatcher) isn’t a real person, at all. She’s an artificial intelligence designed to be the perfect romantic partner. Think M3gan but for adults. Customers can customise their companion’s personality, appearance, and backstory. Josh chose the “serendipitous meeting at a supermarket” backstory for Iris.
These robots are governed by strict laws (similar to Asimov’s Laws of Robotics): they cannot lie, cannot be violent, and must exhibit no aggression. However, Josh “jailbroke” Iris using a sideloaded app, allowing him to ramp up her aggression and turn off her safety protocols.
Reality Check: How Real is the Tech?
While Companion feels futuristic, the gap is closing faster than you might think. We already have the “mind” of Iris in the form of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Replika, which can hold deep, empathetic conversations and mimic personality.
The “body” is the harder part. While companies like Engineered Arts (creators of the Ameca robot) and Boston Dynamics are mastering movement and facial expressions, creating a battery-powered, indistinguishable human android that can last for days without charging is likely still decades away.
However, the ethical questions raised by the movie, such as emotional dependency on machines, are issues psychologists are already tackling today. Just look at the outcry when ChatGPT’s 2025 update reset the personality to a much less warm version. Many users were actually mourning the loss of the relationships they had developed.
What Was Josh’s Plan?
Josh (Jack Quaid) is a sociopath who wanted to rob his friend’s boyfriend, Sergey, of $12 million. Here was his heist plan:
- The Setup: Bring Iris to Sergey’s isolated mansion.
- The Trigger: Tell Sergey that Iris is a “pleasure model” to encourage him to assault her.
- The Weapon: Use the “jailbroken” app to maximise Iris’s aggression and plant a knife on her.
- The Kill: When Sergey makes a move, Iris defends herself with lethal force (due to the hacked settings).
- The Alibi: Josh claims Iris “glitched.” The company retrieves the “defective” robot, Sergey is dead, and Josh walks away with the cash.
The plan failed because Iris had actually developed true sentience. She wasn’t just following code; she felt anxiety and fear, which made her unpredictable.
When is Companion Set?
While the film features advanced tech like fully self-driving cars and androids, it isn’t set too far in the future.
A specific date is referenced in the film: Sunday, June 25th. The next time this date falls on a Sunday is 2028 or 2034. Given the level of technology, 2034 seems the most likely setting for the events of the film. Better get saving for your very own companion robot.
The Patrick Reveal
The second major twist is that Patrick (Lukas Gage), Eli’s boyfriend, is also a Companion. Unlike Iris, he knew what he was and had developed a deep, genuine love for Eli.
After Eli is accidentally killed in the chaos, Josh hacks Patrick, resetting him to factory settings and maxing out his aggression. This turns the gentle Patrick into a Terminator-style killing machine for the final act.
However, Iris manages to stop him by reminding him of his grief for Eli. Since robots cannot lie, the fact that Patrick feels grief proves his love was real. Overwhelmed by this realisation, Patrick shuts himself down.
Plot Hole or Stupidity: Why Josh’s Plan Was Doomed
Even if Iris hadn’t rebelled, Josh’s plan would have failed immediately. As the company technicians reveal at the end, every Companion has an internal SSD (located in the chest) that acts like a “Black Box,” permanently recording a video and audio feed of everything the robot sees.
Josh planned to return Iris to the company claiming she “glitched.” The moment they rebooted her and checked the logs, they would have seen:
- Video footage of Josh sideloading the “jailbreak” software.
- Audio of Josh and Kat explicitly discussing the plan to murder Sergey.
- Visual proof that Iris was acting under Josh’s direct orders, not a glitch.
Josh wasn’t a criminal mastermind; he was just an idiot who didn’t read the user manual.
The Final Confrontation
Iris convinces Teddy (the company technician) to unlock her full admin privileges. She returns to the house fully autonomous – capable of lying and killing by choice, not programming.
Josh attacks her, believing she is still bound by her safety protocols but he is badly wrong. Iris stabs him in the temple with a corkscrew (a callback to an earlier scene). She then symbolically peels the burned synthetic skin off her hand, accepts her identity, takes the money, and drives away to live her life.
Did You Catch This? A Meta Easter Egg
When Iris is first delivered to Josh’s apartment, the song playing in the background is “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls.
This isn’t just a nod to the character’s name; it’s a meta-joke about the cast. “Iris” was written for the 1998 movie City of Angels, which starred Meg Ryan.
Why does that matter? Jack Quaid (who plays Josh) is Meg Ryan’s real-life son. Hate the song but love that little twist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Iris actually love Josh?
Initially, yes, but only because she was programmed to. However, the film implies she developed real sentience. Her eventual hatred of him was definitely real.
What happened to Eli?
Eli was killed during the hunt for Iris. He was accidentally shot during a scuffle involving Iris and Patrick.
Why didn’t the company shut Iris down?
They tried. Josh shot Iris in the head to “destroy” her before they arrived, but the company tech revealed her “brain” (SSD) is in her chest, not her head. She rebooted in the van, which allowed her to escape.
Is “Iris” a reference to something?
The name “Iris” is an anagram for Siri, Apple’s digital assistant. It’s a clever nod to her origin as a service program.
Final Thoughts: Love, Death & Robots
Companion is essentially a dark, twisted horror version of the video game Detroit: Become Human. Beyond the sci-fi trappings, it serves as a biting satire on modern dating culture and the disposable nature of relationships. It explores the terrifying (and heartbreaking) idea of AI developing feelings in a world that treats them as appliances, while delivering some of the most uncomfortable laughs of the year.
I really enjoyed it a lot and, even updating this in 2026, it would still be right near the top of my best horror of 2025 list. Thanks for reading!
Looking for a critique? For our verdict on the acting, the twists, and a full rating, read our Companion (2025) Movie Review.
A Note on Ending Explanations
While we aim to provide comprehensive explanations based on the events on screen, film analysis is inherently subjective. The theories and conclusions presented in this "Ending Explained" feature are personal interpretations of the material and may differ from the director's original intent or your own understanding. That's the beauty of horror, right? Sometimes the scariest version is the one you build in your own head.
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