The Companion

Gillian Kathryn Harrold, a famous romance novelist, discovers that her boyfriend Alan Bryan Cranston is cheating on her and leaves him. Her friend Charlene Talia Balsam convinces her to purchase a Companion Model G-45, an android with an artificial intelligence personality. Gillian equips Geoffrey with cooking skills for many world cuisines (except pasta al dente, which remains beyond the AI) and the basic first aid package, but resists adding sports skills like golf, swimming, and tennis, preferring the most basic model she can obtain. She names her Companion Geoffrey [Bruce Greenwood] and is pleased by how good he looks.

Gillian travels to her mountain cabin with Geoffrey to work on her next novel. Annoyed by Geoffrey’s consistently identical responses, she decides to reprogram him herself, shifting his personality from completely formal to 100% informal and his vocabulary from perfect grammar to slang. She is pleased with the results and grows even more attracted to him.

Gillian’s ex-boyfriend Alan arrives at the cabin and attempts to woo her back, but she resists. Alan becomes enraged with jealousy by Geoffrey’s presence, mistaking him for Gillian’s new lover, and aggressively accuses Geoffrey of sleeping with “his” girl. When Gillian asks Geoffrey to make Alan stop, Geoffrey punches Alan in the nose, breaking it. Gillian tells Alan to leave, which he does.

On a hike up a cliff, Gillian tells Geoffrey that Romeo & Juliet is probably the greatest love story in all of literature.

Romeo & Juliet is probably the greatest love story in all of literature.

Gillian slips off the cliff, but Geoffrey saves her. Gillian later increases Geoffrey’s sexuality setting from 0% to 100% and they begin having sex regularly.

Gillian is invited to dinner by her neighbors Stacy and Ron, a painter and a sculptor, respectively. Geoffrey’s awkward responses are noticed by the neighbors, and Gillian confesses that he is a Companion. Geoffrey accompanies Stacy to the kitchen to teach her his lasagna recipe, while Gillian accompanies Ron to his workshop to view his sculptures. Ron flirts with her, but she is uninterested in another cheating man. When Ron attempts to kiss her, Geoffrey arrives and hits Ron with a pole. Gillian and Geoffrey leave as Ron and Stacy argue in the house over what has happened.

In an attempt to make Geoffrey more spontaneous, Gillian incorporates the use of “random data,” ignoring the warnings issued by the computer. Stacy visits and tells Gillian that Ron destroyed all her paintings after the fight they had the previous night and that she is considering leaving him. After Stacy leaves, Charlene visits the cabin and is disturbed by Gillian’s dangerous incorporation of “random data” into Geoffrey’s programming as well as by Gillian’s new feelings for him and sexual activity with him. Geoffrey tells Charlene that she should leave, so Charlene chooses to walk away from the cabin.

Becoming disturbed by Geoffrey’s unpredictability after he destroys her videophone in an attempt to create a perfect life for her isolated in the cabin, Gillian attempts to flee one night. She discovers Charlene’s severed head in the backseat of her car. Geoffrey tells Charlene that she should leave, so Charlene chooses to walk away from the cabin. Geoffrey drives behind her and offers her a ride, explaining that Gillian is happy now, but Charlene threatens to have him recalled in order to get him away from Gillian.

Geoffrey destroys Gillian’s videophone in a bid to protect the life he believes he has created for her, and she attempts to flee again. Gillian returns home and takes Ron’s keys, then Geoffrey returns and attempts to delete his programming in the ultimate act of love. He notices Gillian watching him and angrily chases her to Ron’s house, shouting that she lied to him. Gillian takes a large gun that Ron used to blast away pieces of stone for his artwork and shoots Geoffrey, rendering him inoperative.

Gillian’s next book, a more dramatic novel that marks a departure from her previous idyll, ends up receiving critical praise.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 09:26