M3gan
M3GAN (MEGAN) (15)
D: Gerard Johnstone
Universal / Blumhouse / Atomic Monster / Divide/Conquer (Jason Blum & James Wan)
US 🇺🇸 2022 [released 2023]
102 mins
Horror/Thriller
W: Akela Cooper & James Wan
DP: Peter McCaffrey
Ed: Jeff McEvoy
Mus: Anthony Willis
Allison Williams (Gemma), Violet McGraw (Cady), Amie Donald (M3gan), Jenna Davis (voice of M3gan), Ronny Chieng (David), Brian Jordan Alvarez (Cole), Jen Van Epps (Tess)
When her parents die in a car accident, eight-year-old Cady is taken in by her mum’s sister, Gemma, who lacks maternal instincts and is more career-focused on her job at high-tech toy company, where her latest invention is a state-of-the-art cybernetic doll (M3gan - Model 3 Generative Android), designed to be a companion and friend to the child it is paired with.  Incredibly helpful for Gemma, so she can concentrate on work, watching TV & catching up on her Tinder notifications.Â
Cady develops a strong emotional attachment to M3gan, which becomes self-aware and goes on a killing spree.
The performance of Violet McGraw is exceptional for a juvenile performance, whilst Allison Williams does the best she can with a truly one-dimensional character. The work put into bringing M3gan to life is a little too hit-and-miss, with some scenes looking like a child actress in a rubber mask, while the others fall into uncanny valley territory, with an animatronic puppet with a constant “resting bitch face”, that you simply wouldn’t allow into your home at all, let alone let around your children. Nevertheless, it’s a suspension of disbelief you have to ride with, but the film really falls apart in the final third, when it really turns into campy nonsense.
What could have been a smart satire on the 21st century’s over-reliance on technology becomes just another brainless, predictable horror flick from Blumhouse. Alas, it’s been a good business model for them, producing horror films on a budget of $10-20m for a ten-fold return.  I just expect a little more investment from the films I watch.
5/10
