- Director: John Darbonne
- Writer: John Darbonne
- Stars: Christine Nguyen, Cody Renee Cameron, Stephen Brodie
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
- Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12093604/
Synopsis
A man with a machete approaches a car. He sees a bloody arm inside the car, and he screams. Credits Roll.
We see the same man, Gus, without the bloody clothes this time. He and his wife have broken into the house. It’s some kind of apocalypse, and they have been hunting for food. They joke about companions that haunt you. He goes to check out the barn and cuts his hand. The companions come for him.
Ella explains that they look like ghosts but can affect the real world. Companions are drawn to fear, and they don’t go far from where they died. The war was three years ago. They hear a radio broadcast about a safe place called Bodega Island with an invitation.
A group of people stab Gus outside. He keeps looking at the car, knowing he’ll die in there. That was himself whom he’d seen earlier in the backseat. The Preacher, Matty, and Emily are there now. They’re looking for Abner. Ella’s stuck between the Preacher and a companion, but the humans get her first.
Abner shows up, and there’s a very fast gunfight and a slow wrestling match. He kills Matty and Emily, but the Preacher gets away. Abner explains to Ella that Gus is going to take days or weeks to die, but he goes really fast instead. Abner takes Ella with him in his truck. After a lot of arguing, they make an uneasy peace.
Ella runs into a child survivor who is quickly killed by a Companion. The junkyard they are in is infested with them, and they throw Abner all over the place. We see Gus, who isn’t as dead as we thought, and neither is the Preacher. The two appear to become allies.
A man attacks Ella and shoots her in the arm with an arrow, but she soon gets her revenge with a knife. Abner explains that he still talks to his dead son, who is a Companion. Ella wants to go back and bury Gus, still thinking he’s dead. Gus has seen Ella’s companion, even though she’s still alive, which isn’t normal.
Abner explains that he’s been to Bodega, that’s where he’s from. Ella and Abner go back to where they left Gus, intending to bury him. Abner sees Ella’s companion too. Ella finds the Preacher’s collar where Gus’ body should have been, and a companion attacks Abner.
They want to follow Gus and the Preacher to Bodega. To get there, they need to go see Merritt, a man who knows the way. Merritt explains that there’s no such place as Bodega Island. Ephraim, the guy on the radio, is holed up at Abner’s old place. Merritt explains that the Preacher is dead, but as far as he knows, the Preacher was alone.
Ella recites poetry to Abner while they are in bed together… on a road trip to hopefully rescue her husband. This was after she spent the past hour trying to avoid getting raped by him.
Merritt then betrays them to the Preacher. He explains that everyone at Bodega committed mass suicide. Abner sees his dead son Jacob again at the Bodega Ranch. Gus sneaks up on Abner, and the two fight. They discuss Ella’s companion and that her fate is decided. Abner and the Preacher fight. Abner also gets shot. Ella explains to Abner that he can go with Jacob now, so he dies.
The Preacher attacks Ella, but Gus jumps in and kills him. Gus and Ella are reunited. They start walking back to the farmhouse and argue about what happened to both of them. Gus is jealous of Abner, and they fight some more. She sees Gus’s companion and then her own. Gus hits her with a shovel and handcuffs her in the barn. She tears his injury open and demands the keys. She continues ripping at his guts until he staggers off and sits in the car to die. Except then Gus learns that companions can lie; their appearance isn’t always what you think it is.
Commentary
The effect for the companions is surprisingly good, and the explanation and lore behind them is nice as well. Where do all these random crazy people (not the companions) keep popping up from?
The argument between Abner and the Preacher isn’t interesting at all, and it’s really just an excuse for the characters to travel around this weird apocalypse world in search of a sanctuary that doesn’t exist. Companions aren’t really understood, but they are very unpredictable.
It was all going very well until the final scenes. They should have cut it off right after they got back together with a sort-of happy ending. As it was, the whole “Quest” was a waste of time for two people that didn’t love each other at all.