Dolls. Is there anything creepier? Sheer pandemonium erupted once the poster for M3GAN was revealed. Once the trailer dropped, it rose to the top of my 2023 watchlist. Aside from the idea of an artificially enhanced doll running amok, horror giants James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring franchise) and Blumhouse (Halloween films, The Black Phone, The Invisible Man) were behind the new flick. And it’s truly an honor to say that the film met and exceeded my expectations. Move over Chucky; there’s a new doll franchise on the rise.
When Gemma (yes chile, Allison Williams from Get Out) gets a call that her sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car accident, she assumes guardianship for her now orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw; The Haunting of Hill House). Gemma is a genius roboticist and has been working on a passion project, Model 3 Generative Android — M3GAN. It’s a life-like and life-size doll programmed with advanced artificial intelligence designed to be a best friend for the child and a helper to the parents. With Cady overcome with grief and Gemma not knowing a thing about how to parent a 9-year-old, having Cady bond with the M3gan prototype seemed like the best idea. But this quick-fix solution came with severe and even deadly consequences.
The concept of technology turning on humans isn’t new. We’ve seen it in series like Humans and films like iRobot, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and even Disney’s Smart House. M3GAN joins them in showcasing another aspect that centers around children and the effect technology has on them, specifically. M3gan was supposed to make life easier but using it as a substitution or a shortcut only made things more difficult.
In the film, Gemma initially loved M3gan taking the lead in dealing with the day-to-day tasks regarding Cady. She reminded Cady to flush the toilet, helped keep her company, and read her bedtime stories. This freed up Gemma’s days to continue working on her project launch or live life as she was before Cady arrived. Cady also had something, or someone, to take her mind off the fact that she had just lost both of her parents.
But, as M3gan’s hold on Cady increases, Gemma realizes that using the doll as a stand-in was not only stalling Cady from coping with the loss of her parents, but it was also damaging the relationship between her and Cady.
The film has great balance thanks to a screenplay written by Akela Cooper (Malignant) and direction by Gerard Johnstone (Housebound). It gives us the feels, the funnies, and just enough spook to never forget that this is indeed a horror film. M3gan’s dialogue is sharp-tongued and witty. Audiences will have a blast clinging to one of the many quotables or bursting out in one of their random songs. That context crafted around this advanced doll forces the film past the killer doll trope into fresh and new territory.
The doll itself isn’t just a puppet on a string. Several factors came together to create M3gan’s character, including Jenna Davis, who lent her voice, and Amie Donald, who lent her body for physical movements, adding uniqueness to M3gan. Donald was the body behind those dance moves we can’t stop talking about.
M3GAN is the perfect horror film to jump-start your year. At 102 minutes, it gets in and out without wasting a moment. In the midst of this viral sensation is a message on the impact too much screen time can have on children. There is no substitution for human connection and no shortcuts for relationship building.
The funniest moments are not in the trailer, and nothing can prepare you for the weird and surprising moments you’ll see on screen. Here’s hoping that the sequel is already in production. M3GAN should be your first “go to the theater movie” of the year.
M3GAN is now playing in theaters.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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