HBO Max’s lost sci-fi gem, Made for Love, would have been the perfect follow-up watch to the thought-provoking film Companion. Both explore the dark intersections of technology and patriarchal control through compelling female leads trapped in high-tech prisons of their own making. While Companion introduces Iris, a companion robot fighting for autonomy, Made for Love follows Hazel, a human woman escaping her tech billionaire husband’s invasive brain chip surveillance. Together, they form a hauntingly relevant duo, dissecting themes of domination, identity, and resistance in a tech-obsessed world-making Made for Love an ideal, if elusive, companion piece to Companion.
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: Milioti’s Hazel is totally human, fleeing her seemingly idyllic life as a tech gajillionaire’s 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 already know is 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 AELGAMES, 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.)
Could HBO Max’s lost sci-fi classic have been the perfect follow-up to Companion
Yes, HBO Max’s lost sci-fi TV classic Made for Love would have been the perfect follow-up to Companion. Both works explore themes of control, autonomy, and resistance within male-dominated, tech-driven societies through compelling female protagonists. While Companion centers on Iris, an AI companion robot discovering her identity and fighting against her creator’s dominance, Made for Love follows Hazel, a human woman fleeing her tech billionaire husband who has implanted a chip in her brain to monitor her every move. This thematic and narrative resonance makes Made for Love an ideal companion piece to Companion, though unfortunately the show has become difficult to access legally after disappearing from Max’s platform.
How would this lost sci-fi series have evolved Companion’s themes of control and resistance
HBO Max’s lost sci-fi series Made for Love would have evolved Companion’s themes of control and resistance by deepening the exploration of technological domination and personal autonomy within intimate relationships. While Companion focuses on an AI companion robot grappling with its programmed servitude and emerging self-awareness, Made for Love amplifies this by portraying a human woman, Hazel, who escapes her tech billionaire husband’s invasive control through a brain-implanted chip. This shift from artificial to human subjectivity intensifies the narrative tension between surveillance and freedom, illustrating how technology can be both a tool of oppression and a battleground for rebellion. The series would have expanded on the dystopian motif of totalitarian control, showing resistance not just as defiance but as a complex negotiation with pervasive, intimate technology-highlighting the fraught relationship between identity, power, and technological governance in a patriarchal context. This aligns with broader sci-fi traditions where technology is intertwined with governance and resistance, often reflecting societal power struggles through personal and collective rebellion.
