M3gan first came to my awareness from a trailer. Watching a killer robot doll tumble down a hall on its way to destroying someone struck me immediately as a gimmick. People loved it. I, however, filed it under a movie I would never see.
The gimmick went further with producer Jason Blum teasing on Twitter that he had a big announcement. Fans excitedly speculated about what the next project would be, some hoping it would be a new Nightmare on Elm Street. But, no, the “big” announcement was that he was going to dress as M3gan for Halloween. Yup. Gimmick. Not going to see this movie.
I became curious as reviews started to roll in about the film’s commentary on our interpersonal detachment due to devices, an area I am keenly interested in. Seeing that the director was Gerard Johnstone, maker of the excellent Horror-Comedy, Housebound, I thought maybe this was something to see after all.
But then I saw the writers were James Wan and Akela Cooper, the ones behind Malignant. Yeah, no. But then economics came into play. I had a pass that was going to expire. This month is a dearth of movies that look interesting. So M3gan it was.
The movie starts with a humorous commercial for a product that capitalizes on children’s love for digital devices and marries it with their love of poop and farts. It glides smoothly into showing the product in use and the battle parents face when trying to moderate that use. It ends badly.
Enter Aunt Gemma, the one who not only gave Cady the poop-beast, but created it. Aunt Gemma is thrust into a caretaker role by the accident that killed Cady’s parents. It is immediately clear that she is more adept at interacting with devices than humans. So, naturally, her solution is to have a robot do the interacting. Enter M3gan, Model 3 Generative Android.
When Gemma tells M3gan to protect Cady from all physical and emotional harm, you know where this is going. What unfolds is a very standard killer doll/toy movie. There are a few updated twists, but mostly it just delivers a satisfyingly predictable escalation.
Like Don’t Worry Darling, it gives warning of how tech could have a power over us that we can’t control. One of the scariest things it merely mentions, is that digital devices are listening to us and our children. So, yes, the reality is we are handing our children over to tech that has not always been thoroughly tested. M3gan shows us how that can possibly go wrong. It all unfolds exactly as it should. It’s just a straight-forward, competently made movie.
Jessica McKinney 