M3GAN Movie Review

M3GAN (2022)

Rent M3GAN on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Akela Cooper (screenplay by), Akela Cooper & James Wan (story by) 
Directed by: Gerard Johnstone
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis (voice)
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
A robotics engineer at a toy company builds a life-like doll that begins to take on a life of its own.

Verdict
An interesting premise and a subtext about parenting provides depth initially, but it soon becomes a rather typical slasher movie. This doesn't explore the concept of neglectful parented initially presented. There's tension, but this isn't a horror movie. It's another example of a killer robot. I hoped this could be more of a commentary, but by the end it's just mundane violence.
Skip it.

Review
This is a Blumhouse movie, the production company that specializes in small budget horror movies like Get Out, Ma, and The Black Phone. Writer James Wan is the co-producer and created The Conjuring series.

I hoped this would take the same route of The Invisible Man where it explores social issues while remaining thrilling. Instead it succumbs to horror movie tropes.

Allison Williams plays Gemma

A car crash leads to roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams) getting temporary custody of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) while Gemma is on a deadline developing the next big toy. Gemma was supposed to be developing a new reactive pet, but instead has been working on a lifesize android. Gemma isn't ready to be a parent, but this situation pushes her to continue working on the prototype M3gan (Amie Donald) to help her niece.

M3gan manages to win over her boss who wanted another version of the pet that made the company famous. A reactive android could be the next big toy. M3gan looks odd, but then she begins operating outside of parameters. It's small at first, progressing throughout. Characters are happy to overlook this is M3gan and Cady become great friends.

One of the engineers brings up the salient question. If M3gan does everything for the child, Gemma or parents are not spending any time with their kids. This equates M3gan to screen time, the go to babysitter for inattentive parents. The movie had mentioned screen time, and Cady certainly becomes addicted to the newest form of entertainment, M3gan.

Amie Donald, Violet McGraw play M3gan, Cady

Cady becomes very attached to the robot. It's easy to see where this is going. M3gan was made to protect Cady, and now the robot is going too far as it's unable to quantify threats and subsequent reactions. I wanted the movie to tie in screen time, inattentive parents, and this killer doll or how parental neglect can create sociopaths but it doesn't materialize.

This movie is a new iteration of Child's Play, but it's not really a horror movie. It's a thriller with undertones of childcare adding to the story, but it becomes a slasher towards the end. It's a very tired plot device. If M3gan is supposed to be so smart, I'm not sure how her killing people is going to accomplish any of her goals. Despite the promising opening, this doesn't capitalize.