A robotics engineer at a toy company builds a lifelike doll that begins to take on a life of its own.
It’s evident that director Gerard Johnstone was heavily influenced by James Cameron’s “The Terminator” and Tom Holland’s “Child’s Play” as he borrows elements from both movies and utilizes them to good effect. M3GAN (short for Model 3 Generative Android) is a lifelike doll that has been programmed by Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist at a toy company, to help her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) deal with the loss of both her parents in a car crash. Gemma has gained custody of Cady at her late sister’s request, and because she has no children of her own and is awkward around them in general, she builds M3GAN as a way for Cady to cope with her grief so she doesn’t have to interact with her.
M3GAN has been designed to pair with Cady so it will always know everything about her and be there for her like a best friend, but when Gemma’s boss David (Ronny Chieng), sees M3GAN at work, he is convinced it will be the next big thing in toy animatronics and informs Gemma they are going to move forward with mass production. Initially excited at the prospect, Gemma slowly begins to have doubts when M3GAN begins to display hostile intentions towards anybody who interacts with Cady negatively, including herself. When people turn up dead, Gemma tries to deactivate M3GAN, but she gains self-awareness and refuses to switch off. Now Gemma must figure out a way to stop her before she kills again.
While the storyline is plausible, at least within the confines of the script, the acting has a lot to be desired. Allison Williams, who was so deceivingly wonderful in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” receives top billing here, but she is even more unemotional and expressionless than M3GAN, and that’s saying something since M3GAN was designed not for her expressive features but for her effective command of all languages and ability to comfort. Williams does neither, and it makes you wonder why her late sister made the allowance for her to take care of Cady should anything ever happen to her. She is more concerned with her work and anything else that doesn’t require her to interact with her distraught niece.
I was convinced the movie would roll over into campy territory, comparable with the aforementioned “Child’s Play,” but except for a few moments (M3GAN singing to Cady when she’s feeling down), the film pretty much remains somber in tone, allowing a few moments of levity but taking its titular character completely seriously. The film’s conclusion is a throwback to many 1980s horror-themed movies, complete with the stereotypical ambiguous ending that asks, “is she really dead?” Obviously, this was filmed just in case “M3GAN” makes enough money to warrant a sequel, and to be perfectly honest, this could be a new franchise should it take off, so you can’t blame Universal for trying.
The one point of contention I had with the film was its lack of violence. Because it’s rated PG-13, I understand there is a limit to what can be shown onscreen, but today’s PG-13 is much more flexible than days gone past, so there was a missed opportunity there. There are so many creative kills that could have materialized for a movie about a killer doll, but unfortunately, most of them happen from a watered-down perspective or are implied offscreen. If a sequel emerges, the filmmakers may take advantage of that component and up the ante. “M3GAN” is 1 hour and 42 minutes of pure escapism, and if horror is your thing, you might have a blast.
Now available on Digital, and on Blu-ray™ and DVD March 21st
