It’s not easy being a woman in a man’s world. No one knows that better than Companion’s Iris, who is informed not long into the now-in-theaters sci-fi movie that she’s actually a companion robot and, now that she’s killed someone, she’s going to have to be reset. This being a movie and all, Iris doesn’t go down without a fight, and the insidious animosity lurking beneath her now ex-boyfriend Josh’s nice guy exterior starts to rear its ugly head. It’s more than just a “sex bot” run amok; he wants control.
It’s what makes the movie a perfect companion (ey yo!) piece to Made for Love, a now-lost Max original and the other major Cristin Milioti HBO project. It’s no longer streaming on Max (or, sadly, anywhere legally accessible), but it’s worth following up Companion with it all the same, if you can find it. The technology at the heart of it is totally different: Miloti’s Hazel is totally human, fleeing her seemingly idyllic life as tech gajillionaire wife, and hiding out with her estranged father. Or, at least, she would be hiding. But her husband, Byron (a magnificent Billy Magnussen), has, unbeknownst to her, signed her up for his new “Made for Love” program, where they both have chips implanted in their brains. These chips allow him to track her location, see what she sees, and know all her bioregulation and emotion data.
Made for Love’s Hazel and Companion’s Iris are both trapped in stories of technological and patriarchal control. It doesn’t matter whether they’re programmed or simply microchipped: The two women are at the hands of men who see them as extensions of themselves, their egos, and their desires. And perhaps most importantly, Made for Love extends Companion’s vision for the problem man: This isn’t some lonely loser living in his basement. He’s just as fun, young, cute, and smart as he is blinded by anxiety and misogyny.
What makes Made for Love such a fun expansion of Companion’s exploration of tech-aided, self-involved man-babies is the way it can dig in deep on both Hazel and Byron. The show clearly sides with her — Byron’s actions are pretty obviously invasive and weird — but his aims being (in his mind) altruistic and wholesome makes him a rich character to mine. Magnussen brings a puppy dog energy to Byron that feels far more nefarious and interesting than your standard two-dimensional bad guy because you can understand where he’s coming from even when it’s abhorrent. For as righteously furious as Milioti gets (which, if you’ve seen her on The Penguin, you know is already a glorious sight to behold), her anger can barely penetrate the happy ego that swaddles Byron’s whole world.
Through it all, Made for Love is constantly hitting the one-two punch of comedy and sincerity. Hazel’s wants and desires are very real and very reflective of the times, unfortunately (as Companion’s Sophie Thatcher noted to Polygon, it’s a helluva time to be a woman in the world who wants autonomy over her body). But they are also well balanced against the absurd lengths tech industry workers are forced to go to avoid disappointing their bosses, or the fact that Hazel’s dad is dating a sex doll. When it came out in 2021, it felt like a wonderful funhouse mirror to explore how Hazel was trapped in some gilded cage. With a couple more years of technology and politics under our belt, it feels a little closer to home — which is exactly what makes it so perfect to watch now. (That is, assuming you can find it.)
