Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
M3GAN is a wickedly fun, entertaining time at the cinema.
Robotics engineer Gemma (Allison Williams) becomes the guardian of her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), following the death of the young girl’s parents. The workaholic quickly realizes being a guardian is harder than she thought. Leading her to give her newest robotic toy invention M3GAN (performed by Amie Donald in motion capture and voiced by Jenna Davis) to Cady. Resulting in M3GAN becoming a pseudo-parent to the young girl. When Gemma sees how her invention is helping not only herself but Cady in her time of grief, she presents it to her company. Now, M3GAN’s poised to be the most innovative, expensive toy on the market. However, when Gemma suspects her creation has a sinister defect, she tries to stop the big launch.
There have been many films about the fear of technological advancements. Primarily, the fear of humans losing control over their technological inventions. To name a few, ‘84s The Terminator, ‘04s I, Robot and ‘14s Ex-Machina (this one has an impressive twist on the theme). Although M3GAN tackles the same subject, Screenwriter Akela Cooper (who also wrote the ‘21 hit Malignant) makes it entirely unique.
She does this by incorporating a story of a robotic toy doll who kills. In doing so, Cooper and Director Gerard Johnstone have created a Sci-Fi Horror that feels like a mix of the films above and ‘88s Child’s Play. They’ve even mastered the dark-humour tone of that franchise while creating a film current for today’s audience. Johnstone and Cooper place comedic moments within the sinister acts M3GAN commits. Such as M3GAN performing viral TikTok dances right before murdering someone.
Unlike films that have come before it, M3GAN is set in today’s world. And we live in a time where nearly everything is running on algorithms both inside and outside of our homes. We have in-home virtual assistants, like Alexa, and it feels like everything is hooked up to the Cloud. Our world is one where M3GAN, a robot that constantly learns from the world and unlimited content in Cyberspace, can tap into and control nearly any piece of technology around us. That’s where the horror truly lies.
Although this is a film about a killing robot doll, Cooper’s primary focus is on the humanity of Gemma and Cady. We understand that Gemma is anxious about being a primary guardian. Williams gives a strong performance as a woman struggling with this abrupt life change. When Gemma realizes her creation has advanced into a killing machine, she becomes a true guardian for Cady. Williams’ strong performance effortlessly shows this transformation.
At the heart of the Film is a story of a young girl losing both her parents. McGraw proves she’s a powerful upcoming talent. A quiet moment between Cady and M3GAN shows how the young girl is terrified of forgetting memories of her parents. Although M3GAN is able to store the memories Cady share’s with her, M3GAN is ultimately halting Cady’s grieving process. Therefore, this Film tackles the negative impact of seeking stimulation and distraction in times of trauma. Impressively, this is examined through the lens of a child, a group innocent and naive to the impacts of technology on their malleable minds.
Overall, M3GAN has a heartfelt story about the impact of technology wrapped up in an entertaining, wickedly fun Comedy-Horror package.
Universal Pictures Canada releases M3GAN in theatres Friday, January 6, 2023.
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