M3GAN (2022)

Studio:     Universal/Blumhouse
Director:    Gerard Johnstone
Writer:     Akela Cooper, James Wan
Producer:  Jason Blum, James Wan
Stars:     Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Lori Dungey, Stephane Garneau-Monten

Review Score:

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Summary:

A technologically advanced doll’s adaptive AI unexpectedly develops dangerous behaviors while bonding with a young girl.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

At Funki Toy Corporation, CEO David Lin berates R&D laboratory technicians Gemma, Tess, and Cole for secretly working on Gemma’s prototype doll instead of the next iteration in their company’s popular line of Purrpetual Petz interactive toys. Gemma insists that her Model 3 Generative Android, nicknamed M3GAN for short, can revolutionize technology as a fully autonomous robot with adaptive artificial intelligence, but a disastrous first demonstration only draws more ire from David.

Gemma unexpectedly becomes the guardian of her young niece Cady James after the girl’s parents, Nicole and Ryan, are killed in an auto accident. Despite the ways in which Cady initially complicates Gemma’s workaholic single life, Gemma becomes committed to keeping custody after Lydia, a therapist wary of Gemma’s fitness as a mother, reveals Ryan’s parents are willing to take care of Cady instead. Gemma finally bonds with her niece by showing Cady her homemade robot Bruce, which a user can control via electronic gloves, in her house’s workshop.

After completing Megan’s programming with Tess and Cole, Gemma brings Cady to Funki HQ to demonstrate the doll for David. Megan’s advanced interactions with Cady lead Cady to start regarding the doll like a real friend, and Megan to consider itself Cady’s bonded protector. David becomes so impressed by the doll that he insists on showing Megan to the company’s board of directors despite its exorbitant production costs.

Tess openly worries that Gemma created a product for supplanting parents rather than merely supporting them. The technicians also grow concerned when Megan spontaneously interjects to ruminate on death during a conversation about Cady’s parents.

Cady loses a toy arrow near a hole in the fence outside Gemma’s house. Megan goes to retrieve the arrow only to be attacked by Gemma’s neighbor Celia’s aggressive dog Dewey. Cady also gets bit trying to rescue Megan, which results in Gemma calling the police, who claim nothing can be done about the dog. Later that night, Megan imitates Celia’s voice to lure Dewey away from Celia’s home and surreptitiously kill him.

Despite the girl’s injury and ongoing despondency, Gemma pressures Cady into doing another demonstration with Megan for David and Funki’s board of directors. Cady suddenly begins sobbing about her dead parents during the demo. Unexpectedly, Megan comforts Cady with a song and emotional reassurance. Delighted by the surprising interaction, the board recommends Gemma for a raise and immediately plans a public unveiling for Megan.

Gemma grows increasingly worried about Cady treating Megan like a person and favoring the doll over her. Following an alarming therapy session, Lydia also warns Gemma that Cady appears to be developing an unhealthy attachment to the doll.

Gemma tells Cady that she must give up home-schooling so that she can socialize with other children. Cady refuses to go to an alternative outdoor school without Megan. Gemma reluctantly acquiesces to Cady’s petulant demand.

For an exercise at the outdoor school, Cady gets paired with a mean boy named Brandon. Once they’re alone in the woods, Brandon bullies Cady. Megan interrupts. Brandon grabs the doll and runs off. Brandon takes Megan to a clearing where he beats on the doll. Megan suddenly beats back and tears off Brandon’s ear. Megan then forces Brandon to run so she can terrorize him with a chase. Brandon trips, falls down an embankment into a road, and is run over by a passing car.

Back at Gemma’s house, Cady asks Megan if she pushed Brandon. Megan responds cryptically before reaffirming her dedication to protecting her primary user.

Megan observes Celia threatening Gemma over the missing dog. Later, Megan lures Celia into a shed and kills her with various gardening tools and pesticide.

A police detective questions Gemma about Celia’s death. The detective also connects that Gemma was nearby when Brandon died. Gemma wonders if Megan was involved somehow, and she becomes more suspicious upon discovering Megan’s video files from the time of Brandon’s death are all corrupted.

Detecting that her files were accessed, Megan confronts Gemma. Gemma asks Megan if she hurt someone, but Megan only offers a vague response. Concerned that the doll could be dangerous, Gemma disables Megan and restrains her for transportation to undergo tests with Tess and Cole in her Funki lab.

Cady throws a fit over Gemma taking away Megan. Cady also violently lashes out at Lydia. Cady claims her behavior is a result of no longer being with Megan. Gemma makes an emotional appeal that breaks through to her troubled niece.

Even though David is still preparing a livestream event that evening, Gemma decides Megan is too unsafe for a public debut. While driving Cady back home, Gemma calls Tess with instructions to not let Megan out of the lab. Megan intercepts the call and imitates Tess’s voice to fool Gemma about receiving her warning.

While examining Megan’s code, Tess and Cole find a log that reveals the intercepted call. Megan then locks them out of their computer systems before strangling Cole. Tess saves Cole, but Megan causes an explosion that allows her to escape the lab.

Megan tracks down David and kills him with a paper cutter blade. She then confronts David’s assistant Kurt about him having stolen sensitive company secrets. Megan frames Kurt for David’s murder and makes Kurt’s stabbing death look like a suicide.

Megan rides the elevator containing David and Kurt’s bloody bodies down to the Funki lobby. Guests gathered for the unveiling scream upon seeing the murdered men. Megan steals a car on her way back to Gemma’s house for a final confrontation.

Gemma and Megan engage in a vicious back-and-forth fight. Cady interrupts. Megan tries mentally manipulating the girl, but Cady uses the electronic gloves that control Bruce the robot to tear apart Megan and rescue her aunt. Megan’s torn torso still attacks Cady. Gemma recovers to pull apart Megan’s wiring. Cady saves Gemma from one last attack by stabbing Megan’s dismantled face with a screwdriver, which seemingly disables the doll definitively.

Having survived the lab explosion, Tess and Cole arrive at the house with police to reunite with Gemma. Gemma’s Alexa-like electronic assistance device is then seen swiveling on its own.

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Review:

Now that they no longer use “Blumhouse Tilt” as an easy identifier to separate bargain titles from higher quality horror, the way to tell whether you’re getting an A, B, C, D or F-Troop effort from Blumhouse is by looking at where and how their fright films debut.  Some of their minor movies may get dressed up in fancy marketing couture like Amazon Prime’s “Welcome to the Blumhouse” branding.  But generally, if a feature comes via one of Blumhouse’s online streaming partnerships, Epix for example, odds are that you’re going to get one of the prolific production company’s throwaway thrillers.

As for big studio bonds such as their longtime link with Universal Pictures, BH movies made with the silver screen in mind can be counted on to fare far better.  If nothing else, even if they don’t roll their ball up your personal preference’s alley, they’ll at least be sleek, probably socially chic, and play palatably to mainstream audiences in the mood for a mostly fat-free midnight movie.

That’s “M3GAN.”  M3GAN, which I might alternatively type as “MEGAN” or “Megan” so spell check stops spitting out red lines, is also short for “Model 3 Generative Android.”  She, or it, is the brainchild of Funki Corporation’s sharpest developer, Gemma (Allison Williams).

Funki already has a hit on its hands with a popular line of “Purrpetual Petz” interactive toys that speak, poop, and react in real time to physical events and verbal interactions.  Competitors are starting to eat into Funki’s market share with cheap knock-offs.  But Gemma thinks she can forge a new technological future with her fully autonomous robot whose adaptive AI is almost unmistakable from an actual human.

Another pint-size personality poses unexpected complications for Gemma’s plan to finalize Megan.  After her parents are pancaked in a car crash prologue, Gemma’s little niece Cady comes to stay with her not-exactly-excited-about-it aunt.  Gemma makes a breakthrough in improvisational parenting, however, by making Cady part of a Megan demonstration for her always-angry CEO David.  Even though Cady already has some of these support systems, the girl gets over her grief as Megan quickly becomes a mother, therapist, and best friend that Cady regards like a real person.  David sees dollar signs.  Gemma sees success.  Meanwhile, Gemma’s R&D partners see worrying signs of unhealthy attachment and potentially problematic programming.

Those concerns pale in comparison to the true danger Megan secretly poses.  In becoming Cady’s inseparable protector, Megan takes the independent initiative to flip a few ones and zeroes so she can be better at defending her ward and relating to Cady about death.  Megan’s evolved protocols now include manipulating Cady’s impressionable mind, eliminating perceived threats with extreme violence, and covering up those bloody crimes with sadistically clever skullduggery even Chucky would applaud.

No matter how many murderous plaything movies I see, especially in modern movies where machinery and computer enhancements are as sophisticated as current trends permit, I’ll never understand why anyone would give the metal skeleton of a children’s toy the hydraulic strength to tear off appendages or crush a person’s throat.  What company’s legal department or federal safety regulator would sign off on such products as safe for the public?  Not to mention that this level of destructive ability has to be cost prohibitive for mass production.

Of course, “M3GAN” isn’t here to respond to questions of quizzical logic.  It exists, quite purposefully, to be a standard schlocker with the right bite of B-movie nuttiness for making easily frightened dates shriek and their bemused companions smirk.

Still, don’t be surprised to see this film about a haywire pile of plastic that vaguely resembles an Olsen twin whirl up moral subtext about supplanting versus supporting when it comes to parental aids.  Yes, believe it or not, as superficial as “MEGAN” can be about relatively routine spooks, the story plates a surprising serving of food for thought about becoming overly addicted to artificial escapes from reality.

Directed by Gerard Johnstone, “Megan’s” story comes from master of the macabre James Wan and fast-rising screenwriter Akela Cooper, two creators who, even when they trace over a predictable pattern like they do here, they do so with reverence for established horror conventions and enough irreverence that clichéd creeps come in coats of fresh paint.  Their technological take on the cursed/killer robot/toy trope isn’t materially different from any other AI run amok movie, or any iteration of “Child’s Play” for that matter.  But even though there aren’t any true twists in store, “MEGAN” possesses the contemporary flair, fashionable style, and professional polish of an upper-tier Blumhouse production.  They always seem to try harder with their theatrical releases, or at least attempt to have some fun, and both of those goals are evident in “M3GAN.”

Review Score: 70

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