Companion ending explained: What happens to Iris?

While Companion is a bloody and engrossing thrill ride that’ll have you guessing from start to finish, how exactly does the story of Josh and Iris draw to a close?

What begins as an all-too-pleasant escapade, a weekend away living in luxury with longtime pals, the plot of Companion quickly unfurls into something far more sinister. The robotic twist is given away at the end of the first act and what ensues is a rollercoaster of gruesome murders and even more twisted mental manipulation.

Can Iris escape the clutches of her captors? Does she even want to, given her intrinsic (programmed) bond with Josh? What about the other robots among them? All these questions and more will be rattling through your brain as you watch, keeping you locked in until the final frame.

But what exactly happens to the crew in the climactic moments? Here’s the full recap on how Companion ends.

Josh’s power over Iris

The final act of Companion begins not subtly, but with another surprising kill. After Eli is shot and killed, the crew returns to their mansion by the water. At this stage, Josh takes full control over Patrick, who we earlier found out was also a robot lover.

Kat is ready to abandon the plan, bagging up her share of Sergey’s hidden cash, and starting to walk out on Josh. Before she can, however, Josh, frustrated, commands Patrick to “stop her.” Unfortunately, this was poor phrasing as Patrick stabs Kat in the back, inadvertently killing her.

After Kat’s death, we cut to a scene later on that evening, wherein, Josh has tied Iris to a chair sitting across from him at a dining table. Patrick is busy in the kitchen cooking up a fancy meal.

Before switching her off once and for all, Josh couldn’t help but exert his power over Iris one last time. As if he had to prove his point, he lowered her intelligence all the way down on his mobile app before asking Iris to harm herself.

Holding her arm over a nearby flame, the skin-like coating completely melts off Iris’ arm before Josh decides he’s had enough of torturing his former lovebot. He then commands her to shoot herself in the head after arming her with a revolver. Happy to oblige, Iris effectively commits suicide as the scene comes to an explosive halt, at least, that’s how it all seemed.

Josh’s plan falls apart

As the company behind the robots never intends on causing harm, it’s quite literally programmed into the machines that they can’t lie and can’t physically harm anyone, Josh essentially ‘jailbroke’ Iris to get around that red tape. As a result, Iris was forcibly put into a position to kill Sergey.

Josh’s scheme involved calling the company in order to report the ‘defective’ unit, placing the entire blame on Iris. However, when two representatives arrive at the scene of the crime, they quickly clock onto the truth behind it all.

When discussing not only the murder of Sergey, but the murder of Kat, and then the apparent suicide, Josh is hazy in his description. Obfuscating key details, and having Patrick blurt out truths as he’s unable to lie, ultimately has the two employees piecing things together.

“Oh yeah, she killed herself, did I not say that?” Josh said shakily at one point.

Before they take Iris back, however, the two workers let slip that each robot contains an SSD in its core. This SSD essentially serves as the memory of the companion, storing video footage of the bot’s life. Obviously, Josh can’t let anyone get their hands on this SSD or the rest of his life would be spent behind bars.

Naturally, Josh commands Patrick to kill the two workers in the driveway before they leave. One gets shot clean in the head while the other flees on foot, but not before they manage to reboot Irish to factory settings. In the kerfuffle, Iris escapes and helps the other employee survive.

Iris reminds Patrick of his one true love, Eli, not Josh, despite what his more recent programming tells him. Upon the shocking realization, Patrick ends his own life. From there, Iris heads back into the house to finish things off for good.

Iris closes the chapter

At this point, Josh is packing his things while he assumes Patrick is outside taking care of business. “Is it done?” He asks as he hears someone enter the house, though of course, it wasn’t Patrick.

A fight ensues but ultimately, it’s Iris who comes out on top. After a handful of foreshadowing teases throughout the final act, it’s the electric wine open that ‘brains’ Josh, drilling into his skull and even removing an eyeball in a fittingly gruesome moment to round out his arc.

There’s not much screen time left after that climactic kill. All we see is Iris venturing back home and starting her life as an independent robot not tied to any companion. She’s even getting comfortable with her robot arm being exposed.

Is there a post-credits scene?

There is not a post-credits scene in Companion. For all we know, Iris is out there living her best life with all the struggles of her past well and truly behind her.

For now, there’s no telling if the production studio has any plans to develop a sequel, but the story of Companion is certainly all wrapped up by the time credits roll. There are no lingering plot threads, no questions left unanswered, and no further teases for any future appearances.