The sci-fi thriller “M3GAN” fails to demonstrate horror but instead focuses on family connection. The movie is directed by Gerard Johnstone and written by James Wan who has also directed “Saw” (2004) and “The Conjuring” (2013).
The movie circulates around an orphaned girl “Cady”, played by Violet McGraw who is forced to live with her distant aunt “Gemma” played by Allison Williams who is a robotics engineer at a toy company.
Both characters slowly try to learn more about each other while living together and eventually bond over Gemma’s job as Cady really enjoyed playing with toys before her parent’s accident.
The film tries implementing the lesson of being there for family and breaking away from technology so it doesn’t cloud personal judgment and affect relationships.
The writers do this well by introducing an orphaned child and the progress Cady and Gemma both make for each other.
Gemma and Cady learn this lesson through the actions of a new toy robot Gemma develops that simulates the speech and actions of an actual child’s best friend.
However, Gemma loses control of the toy, which is named “M3GAN” played by Amie Donald.. M3GAN then tries its best to turn Cady against her aunt pretending to be a better caregiver and friend.
Right from the start the film develops a strong emphasis on family and tries to intertwine how a fake friend like M3GAN takes advantage of Cady losing her parents and being susceptible to latching onto someone or something for emotional support.
This results in Gemma and Cady trying their best to learn about each other rather than learn about M3GAN together resulting in them bonding in a way they never thought they would.
I wouldn’t give too many props to the acting besides Donald along with the art effects team that made the robot look realistic, but also unsettlingly inhuman. Some funny lines are included for some characters but for the most part everyone speaks overly dramatic by shouting or emphasizing their movements.
audience members shouldn’t go into the film expecting to be scared or to see horror. M3GAN dials in more on character development rather than suspense, so the “sci-fi horror” label for the movie doesn’t exactly match with the overall plot.
Therefore I give M3GAN a 2.5 out of 5-star rating overall as it does include thrilling moments here and there and funny occurrences, but fails to deliver scary and thrilling reactions from the audience.