Chances are, you already know about M3GAN. Maybe you’ve seen an army of real life M3GANs at a football game, on the Today show, or some other marketing stunt in the lead-up to the film’s release. More likely, you’ve seen her viral dance somewhere on social media (“M3GAN is huge on gay Tiktok,” my brother informs me as the film starts).
And if you’ve seen M3GAN anywhere, you probably already know what you’re in for. That’s what makes watching M3GAN so much fun: the dark humor and creativity of the marketing campaigns have primed audiences for exactly the kind of movie they’re about to see. There is no puzzle box, no misdirection, no elevated horror message, and nary a spoiler warning in sight.
Which is not to say M3GAN has no point of view. The first reaction I had to seeing the viral trailer was “Oh, that looks like my old American Girl doll,” and after seeing the film, it’s hard not to think that’s the intent. M3GAN focuses on millennial-aged parents – those of us who grew up with those American Girl dolls – and how they balance embracing technology and using it as a crutch. The iPad as the babysitter dilemma.
But all that meaning is laid out right on the surface of the film, which largely serves as a solid vehicle for a self-assured exercise in tone. Silly without being slapstick, menacing without being mean, M3GAN strikes exactly the right level of dark comedy, in the same vein as 2021’s Malignant (not a coincidence – screenwriter Akela Cooper penned both films, and James Wan co-developed both stories) and 2022’s Barbarian. Director Gerard Johnstone has a keen ability to fuse horror and comedy in a compelling way, and the young Violet McGraw stands out as the on-screen MVP.
All murder dolls have a secret weakness, though, and M3GAN’s is its third act. The film was apparently re-shot to knock the rating down from an R to PG-13, and in the first two acts that works mostly to the film’s advantage. We spend less time witnessing the brutality of M3GAN’s murders and more time watching her play innocent while cunningly ensnaring her victims. By the third act, though, the film doesn’t feel like it goes quite as hard as it should. The movie peaks at the viral dance moment we’ve all seen from the trailer, and from there is just a predictable series of hand-to-hand combat moments that don’t quite live up to the humor or gore we’d expect from a movie like this one. Director’s cut this Halloween, perhaps?
This is, for some reason, rarely true these days. But if you want to know if you’ll like M3GAN, just watch the trailer. If she’s the murder doll you never knew you always wanted, you’re in for a treat.