A roboticist uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to be a kid’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. After becoming the unexpected guardian of her orphaned niece, she decides to give the girl a M3GAN prototype, a decision that leads to unimaginable consequences. A film by Gerard Johnstone, Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Lori Dungey, and Stephane Garneau-Monten.
M3GAN
Gerard Johnstone
(2023)
Gemma (Allison Williams) is a brilliant robotics inventor at Funki, a company that creates Purrpetual Petz, children’s toys that look like Furbys and have become wildly popular bestsellers.
Furby is an interactive electronic robotic toy that looks like a mix between a hamster and an owl. Released by Tiger Electronics in 1998, it became famous for responding to voice commands, talking in its own language called Furbish, and gradually learning English words through interaction. Furby moves its ears, blinks, and reacts to touch and sound, giving it a lifelike quality that made it feel like a digital pet. It quickly became one of the most popular toys of the late 1990s, with over 40 million units sold worldwide in its first three years. In 1999 alone, sales reached 14 million units, sparking a massive craze and making Furby a nostalgic icon of that era. The toy’s popularity has continued through multiple revivals that added new features like smartphone connectivity. Overall, more than 58 million Furbys have been sold globally, maintaining its place as a memorable and influential toy.
Shortly after, other companies began copying their products and undercutting prices, prompting CEO David Ronny Chieng) to task Gemma with designing a cheaper version to stay competitive. However, Gemma’s real ambition is to develop a next-generation robot capable of authentic human interaction, not pre-programmed responses or button-activated functions.
Without authorization, she quietly redirects over $100,000 of the company’s research funds into her secret project, M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android), collaborating with her teammates Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Tess (Jen Van Epps). When David discovers her unauthorized project, he’s furious that Gemma has ignored his directives. He orders her to shut down the cyborg puppet project immediately and demands she deliver a new Petz prototype by Friday.
Fate intervenes when Gemma must become the guardian of Cady (Violet McGraw) whose parents died in a tragic accident. As Cady’s only remaining relative on her mother’s side, Gemma has no choice but to take her in. Naturally, Gemma has no idea how to raise a child or communicate with one, especially a child who has been severely traumatized. Desperate for a solution, she attempts to create the M3GAN robot again. And this time she succeeds.
M3GAN becomes Cady’s caretaker, forming a bond closer than family. She possesses knowledge about everything, capabilities that surpass all toy robots on the market, and can continuously learn more. This convinces Funki’s executives to rush the robot into production for children as quickly as possible, despite having tested it with only one child and planning a retail price of $10,000. After that, everything unfolds exactly as you’d expect, following Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.“
Murphy’s Law is an adage typically stated as: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” It originated in the late 1940s during U.S. Air Force experiments testing the effects of rapid deceleration on pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The name comes from Edward A. Murphy Jr., an American aerospace engineer involved in these tests around 1948–1949. The phrase came about after a mishap where a sensor was installed incorrectly, leading Murphy to warn that if something can be done the wrong way, someone will do it that way. The law was popularized by Air Force Colonel John Stapp, who used it during a press conference to emphasize the need to plan for all possible failures.
One thing that must be acknowledged is how incredibly talented their marketing team is at generating buzz and making people want to see the film. On Instagram, they have over 100,000 followers and have also used Twitter quite cleverly (@Xyren2Timez / @Spainkiller / @thor_benson). The hype they’ve created is absolutely surreal. Unfortunately, the script fails to deliver the jaw-dropping thrills found in films like UPGRADE or EX_MACHINA
Ultimately, the film ends up being a sci-fi slasher thriller that takes elements others have done before and rehashes them with a formulaic ending. You can’t really call it a horror film when compared to CHILD’S PLAY (which has far superior iconic evil) or a killer robot like TERMINATOR that’s impossible to kill (I still don’t understand the logic behind creating a toy robot with military-grade strength, not to mention how its system can infiltrate and control other computers or intercept phone signals).
By the time the credits roll, the only things that stick with you are M3GAN’s eerily distinctive face and her unsettling robotic dance moves. I did enjoy the moment when she sings “Titanium.” However, the biggest misstep was the marketing team spoiling almost everything in the trailers, including many scenes that should have been saved for audiences to discover in theaters.
The film has grossed over $181.8 million worldwide against a $12 million budget, which means massive profits and a sequel is practically guaranteed, especially “she’s-not-really-dead” ending.
M3GAN premiered in Los Angeles on 7 December 2022. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 6 January.
