M3GAN Review

M3GAN sees two giants of the horror genre, Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster team up for a high-tech version of Chucky.

Gemma (Allison Williams) is a robotics expert who works at the toy company Funki. Gemma’s life is altered forever when her sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident and she must take care of her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). Unsure how to take care of the traumatised child, Gemma completes her project, an advanced self-aware robot called M3GAN, and makes her the ultimate toy. But as Hollywood has taught us, anything involving artificial intelligence is always a bad idea.

M3GAN quickly gained attention because of its marketing campaign. The trailer showed clips of M3GAN’s dance and many marketing events have had dancers perform whilst dressed as M3GAN. The filmmakers did create a memorable horror villain because of the clothes and the creepy mask. M3GAN was an uncanny creation because her face was not quite human, and she was performed by two actors. Amie Donald, a dancer from New Zealand physically played M3GAN whilst Texan actress Jenna Davis provided the voice. There was a deliberate disconnect in the performance to highlight M3GAN wasn’t human.

M3GAN was a film that had its tongue firmly in its cheek. The film opened with a toy advert that had a satirical edge to it. It felt like a real toy advert. Within the first ten minutes, a robot’s head explodes. Nor was it a subtle film. M3GAN stares ominously throughout the film and there was a lot of telegraphing regarding who M3GAN was going to target. It was a film filled with assholes. It felt similar to another Blumhouse slasher, Freaky where it was over-the-top and the audience could relish the kills.

M3GAN earned a 15 rating in the UK, but only a PG-13 in the USA. It was a soft 15 since its violence was mostly tame. Some of the kills were humorous and most of the violence was off-screen. The most violent moment involved an ear and that was probably the moment that pushed the rating higher in the UK.

M3GAN has been compared to the Chucky franchise since it was a film about a killer doll. M3GAN does combine two fears: children and technology. M3GAN had a Black Mirror vibe to it since the film was about the pitfalls of technology. M3GAN was more joyously comedic than the British sci-fi show.

The Black Mirror comparison came through the relationship between Gemma, Cady, and M3GAN. Gemma was suddenly thrust into taking care of a child with no clue on how to help Cady who was obviously traumatised. Gemma partly created M3GAN so she could act as a friend and babysitter. It pushes the idea of parents using technology as a babysitter to its extreme. Cady became overly attached to M3GAN since the robot was the only way to cope with her grief and she wasn’t getting the emotional support she needed. This gave the film a human element. It did help that Williams and McGraw gave good performances, especially McGraw who had a difficult role to play. McGraw can challenge her older sister who had a leading role and gave an excellent performance in Blumhouse’s The Black Phone.

M3GAN’s story was a standard one. Her prime directive was to protect to Cady. She took that command seriously and her actions escalated throughout the film. M3GAN’s ability to learn and her permanent wifi connection made her a constant danger.

A part of Blumhouse’s business model has been to produce films with franchise potential. Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge all became franchises whilst Sinister and Happy Death Day had sequels. An M3GAN sequel has already been greenlit and the filmmakers did foresee this since they lay some seeds for a continuation within the film.

M3GAN gave the 2023 slate of horror films a solid start. It was a fun, sci-fi horror film that didn’t take itself too seriously whilst having a bit of substance.