M3gan: A Sci-Fi Movie Dragged Down By Horror

At its core, science fiction is designed to take technology that exists in the world now, take it to the furthest extreme, and use that as an allegory to tell a story that is relatable to society in the era that it exists. Movies like Metropolis were a response to the rise of machines taking over jobs traditionally held by people while books like Frankenstein
were designed to be warnings about using science in extreme new ways within the medical field. M3gan continues this trend by making an oddly insightful movie about the dangers of parenting via tablet and other technology, however its messaging gets muddied by the continued use of horror tropes that never actually feel scary.

M3gan is about the relationship between Gemma (Allison Williams of Nope fame) and her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) after the violent death of Cady’s parents forces Gemma into a parental role. Gemma was not equipped with the skills to raise a child of ambiguous age, however out of a sense of obligation that’s never quite explained properly besides the audience doing the leg work of “oh she’s her sister but they seem estranged, just don’t think about it too hard” she takes on the responsibility of raising Cady. Fortunately for Gemma, she works for a massive toy company that makes futuristic toys and Gemma has invented a prototype called M3gan (acted by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis) which is a realistic looking AI-powered doll that is designed to be a friend to a child while also helping to raise them.

The movie being about the attachment that a child forms to screens is an interesting and unique approach. Taking it to the extreme where the “screen” is a doll that looks and acts human makes for a lot of great moments, especially in the moments where the movie where Cady is interacting with CPS and the interactions devolve as her relationship with M3gan develops. There’s also the moment where Gemma is trying to put Cady in school and Cady does not want to go because M3gan cannot go with her and there are multiple meltdowns that come from Cady (and to an extent Gemma also) not properly processing the death of Cady’s parents.

The issue is that these moments are undercut by the horror elements that do not even consistently run through the entire movie. It’s kind of like in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special where there are moments that are designed to be the key points in the story’s emotional arc, however something happens that pulls the viewer’s attention away from the narrative. Cady is having trouble making friends and relating to people after spending a lot of time with M3gan and is having almost withdrawal like symptoms, however that is undercut by the bully who steals M3gan and M3gan ends up killing. Of her kills, only two of them actually fit into the described “prime directive” that M3gan was given which cheapens the three third act kills. Devolving the story into a third act that basically serves as a lengthy homage to every other killer-AI movie that’s come out, specifically in the 80s, it undercuts the messaging of the film.

At the end of the day, M3gan definitely could have been a stronger movie if the horror elements were removed, especially considering the movie is PG-13 so they aren’t actually scary. The fact that the film is being marketed as horror also works against it because the jump scares are fairly obvious if a viewer knows to expect them when they come into the room. Had the movie been flipped and been marketed as a hard science fiction movie like After Yang (also a Sundance movie last year) and then these horror elements were in the movie, they probably would have worked a little better, however as the film stands here, they just don’t work as intended. At the end of the day, M3gan is worth a watch, even if one does wait for it to hit Peacock within the next few months.

Final Rating: 7.5/10