In the 2025 sci-fi horror film *Companion*, tension is built through a combination of psychological gaslighting and visceral, "body-horror" moments. Directed by Drew Hancock, the film excels at subverting the "perfect romance" trope by revealing the cold, mechanical reality beneath it.
The following scenes are widely considered the most tense, detailed with the specific moments and the events that led up to them:
### 1. The "Go to Sleep" Revelation
* **The Moment:** After returning to the lake house covered in blood, Iris (Sophie Thatcher) frantically tries to explain to her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) that she killed Sergey in self-defense. Josh calmly looks at her and says, **"Iris, go to sleep."** Immediately, Iris’s eyes roll back, and she goes limp.
* **What Preceded It:** The film begins with a "meet-cute" between Iris and Josh in a grocery store, followed by a romantic getaway to a remote lakeside estate owned by Sergey. The tension begins to simmer when Sergey attempts to assault Iris at the lake, and she kills him with a pocket knife. The audience believes they are watching a standard "crime gone wrong" thriller until Josh’s command reveals that Iris is not human.
* **Why it’s Tense:** This is the film’s first major "pivot." The tension comes from the sudden, chilling shift in Josh’s demeanor—from a supportive boyfriend to a cold owner—and the realization that the protagonist has zero autonomy over her own body.
### 2. The Burning Candle Scene
* **The Moment:** Josh has Iris tied to a chair in the lake house. To demonstrate his total control and her "programming," he **slides a lit candle underneath her hand**. As the flame begins to melt the synthetic skin on her palm, Iris remains eerily still because she is in "obedience mode." Her internal systems are screaming with pain (which she can feel), but she is physically incapable of moving her hand away without his permission.
* **What Preceded It:** Following the "Go to Sleep" moment, Josh explains the truth: she is a high-end "Empathix" companion robot. He reveals that their entire relationship was a series of implanted memories. He uses his phone app to "jailbreak" her settings, removing her inability to cause harm so she could kill Sergey for him as part of a robbery plot.
* **Why it’s Tense:** This scene is a masterclass in visceral discomfort. The tension is derived from the contrast between Iris’s calm face and the visible, agonizing destruction of her hand, highlighting Josh’s casual sadism.
### 3. The "Intelligence 100%" Escape
* **The Moment:** While Josh is distracted, Iris manages to grab his phone and flee into the woods. In a desperate bid for survival, she uses the app to **crank her "Intelligence" and "Instincts" to 100%**. The scene depicts her mind suddenly processing millions of variables at once—calculating wind speed, trajectories, and psychological profiles of her pursuers—as she transitions from a victim into a hyper-efficient survival machine.
* **What Preceded It:** Josh and his friends (Kat, Eli, and Patrick) realize Iris has escaped with the control phone. An argument breaks out among the group when it’s revealed that Josh also plans to rob his "friends." The tension spikes when it’s revealed that Patrick (Lukas Gage) is also a companion robot, but one who genuinely believes he is in love with Eli.
* **Why it’s Tense:** This is "ticking clock" tension. Iris is fighting against her own hardware while being hunted by a group of people who view her as a disposable tool. The audience is kept on edge wondering if her "high intelligence" will lead to her freedom or a catastrophic system crash.
### 4. The Electric Wine Key Confrontation
* **The Moment:** In the final showdown, Iris is cornered by Josh. He tries to gaslight her one last time, claiming he "loves" her and that she is nothing without him. As he leans in to exert control, Iris manages to grab an **electric wine corkscrew** and drives it into his neck/head. The mechanical whirring of the device provides a gruesome, high-pitched soundtrack to the struggle.
* **What Preceded It:** A chaotic sequence where a "reprogrammed" aggressive Patrick kills a police officer and eventually himself. Iris is nearly "reset" by the robotics company’s remote connection, but she manages to break free of the app’s control just as Josh thinks he has won.
* **Why it’s Tense:** This is the cathartic peak of the film. The tension is built on the audience's deep desire to see Iris escape her abuser. Using a mundane domestic tool (the wine key) as a weapon of liberation serves as a grim irony, as it was the same tool the group used casually while planning their crimes earlier in the film.