THE TRAVEL COMPANION (2026) review
written by: Alex Mallis, Travis Wood, and Weston Auburn
produced by: Alex Mallis, Travis Wood, and Weston Auburn
directed by: Alex Mallis and Travis Wood
rated: not rated
runtime: 91 min.
U.S. release date: April 10, 2026 (limited)
After premiering at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, “The Traveling Companion”, the feature debut from directors Alex Mallis and Travis Wood, is getting a limited release here in the States. The melodramatic comedy finds the independent filmmakers taking an uncomfortably realistic, yet somewhat humorous, look at the indie film scene. While the film is set in New York City, it feels like the directors, who co-wrote and co-produced with Weston Auburn, are offering an accurate portrayal of the struggles of making a micro-budget film in any city. But, while that aspect of the film feels authentic, it’s overshadowed by the bigger issue here, which is how the director in the film’s story is in a state of arrested development that’s effecting everyone around him, and possible you’re threshold for enjoying this film.
The film opens with a very realistic portrait of a film festival Q&A panel after a block of documentary short films has been shown. Each film is represented by either a director or a cinematographer, who steps up to say a few words about their work. If you’ve ever experienced such a scenario, either as a talent or a festival goer, you know that these events can be cringy with a moderator asking rambling questions and audience questions that are often more observations than they are questions, which kind of halts any kind of organic flow. Mallis, Wood, and Auburn clearly know this and capture the vibe accurately, while including the film’s protagonist in the lineup.
Simon (Tristan Turner) is the last one on the right, and by the time the mic gets passed to him, time’s up. The moderator closes out the discussion, since the theater has to make room for another film, and a deflated Simon stands there, mic in hand. He makes his way up the stairs to his seated best friend and roommate, Bruce (Anthony Oberbeck), who is there to support him. The two meet a fellow indie filmmaker named Beatrice (Naomi Asa), and they all go out for drinks afterward.
As Beatrice gets to know Simon and Bruce, we learn that Simon has been entering his first film, a student thesis from years ago, into a number of festivals. He talks about his second film, as if he’s actually started working on it, stating he’s “marinating” a concept that explores “geography-based biases” with literal and metaphorical walls that lead to either limitations or opportunities. Simon describes the footage he’s shot so far in different countries as “scouting” locations for the film.
How exactly has he been to these other countries? It turns out Bruce works as a scheduler for a major airline, making sure pilots and flight attendants have all their overnight accommodations taken care of when needed, and he’s designated Simon as his “travel companion” for the year. That means he can book Simon a free standby ticket on any flight, allowing his broke, aimless childhood friend to spend his free time traversing the globe. It’s a sweet deal, one that Simon has gotten quite used to. But that deal comes to a halt when Bruce starts dating Beatrice (Naomi Asa), a more successful and confident filmmaker who might be a reluctant nepo baby, and starts giving her the free tickets instead.
The film’s deadpan humor is established in that opening film festival Q&A, and carries on to varying degrees of success throughout the movie, along with a good amount of frustration and second-hand embarrassment, all of which feels very personal to the screenwriters. At times, it feels like the writers don’t have enough material for a feature, so they wind up repeating themselves and find themselves getting caught up in the cliches that come with a bromance versus a romance story.
It’s hard to get on board with the sad sack Simon, mostly because Mallis and Wood never really show us what he’s done as an artist. It’s hard to align with an aspiring artist when we never really see their work. Simon definitely talks about his work and what he envisions for his future projects, but that doesn’t tell us what he’s capable of.
“The Traveling Companion” is best when it explores how frayed the friendship between Simon and Bruce has been. Beatrice’s introduction to their twosome is just the catalyst for what was already deteriorating to surface. All Simon really cares about is the free flights he gets out of Bruce, and even when he’s not bringing that subject up (which is often), he’s typically directing every conversation back on him, and then doesn’t understand why Bruce and/or Beatrice are all fed up with him.
The film becomes one of those stories in which a character has to come to a hard realization that their close friend is moving on without them. In this case, we can’t sympathize with either of them. Simon can’t see that he’s being an annoying, selfish a-hole, while Bruce should’ve spoken up about it a long time ago. How they’ve managed to live together, let alone afford to share rent, is a real mystery. It’s clear that Mallis, Wood, and Auburn want to say something about struggles of the artistic process, but how they go about doing it isn’t all that compelling or engaging. At least the film looks good, thanks to cinematographer Jason Chiu (“Mercury in Retrograde“), who brings more artful visual observances to the screen than anything we see from Simon.
