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Watch M3GAN with a subscription on Peacock, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Unapologetically silly and all the more entertaining for it, M3GAN is the rare horror-comedy that delivers chuckles as effortlessly as chills.

As long as you aren't looking for something truly scary -- or even surprising -- M3GAN is often a lot of fun.

Audience Reviews

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Gerard Johnstone

Allison Williams

Violet McGraw

Ronny Chieng

Brian Jordan Alvarez

Jen Van Epps

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The marketing for "M3gan" has leaned into the uncanny spectacle of the title character, a four-foot-tall cyborg with big doe eyes, a ratty wig, and the wardrobe of a closeted lesbian headmistress in a '50s melodrama. And it seems to be working: A well-placed GIF here, an activation with a half-dozen women in M3gan drag there, and Blumhouse—always expert at creating buzz—has generated more interest in "M3gan" than there's been for the last five horror films dumped into the bleak theatrical landscape of early January. But the company could have gone another route as well. In case you haven't heard, this film comes to you from the writer of " Malignant ." 

For that film, James Wan directed a script by Akela Cooper , a longtime TV writer with a sideline in horror screenplays. The duo perfectly calibrated the movie's blend of haunted-house scares and outrageous grotesquerie, enough to make "Malignant" a viral hit when it was released on HBO Max in the fall of 2021. Now Cooper is a horror screenwriter who also works in television, and she's been brought into the Blumhouse fold to develop a sequel to the "Conjuring"-verse spin-off " The Nun " as well as writing "M3gan" from a story by herself and Wan. 

Like "Malignant," "M3gan" knows it's ridiculous. It fills a kiddie pool with ridiculousness and splashes around in it. Cooper's screenplay for "M3gan" is more overtly comedic than "Malignant," however, and has a more populist type of appeal as a result. (The audience at a Chicago preview of the film went crazy for it.) The themes are your classic "science gone amok" fare seen in everything from "Frankenstein" to " Jurassic Park ," combined with a more modern throughline exploring anxieties about motherhood and filtered through the knowingly silly lens of the "tiny terrors" subgenre. "Child's Play" is the most famous example of that last category, and many comparisons have been and will be made between M3gan (an acronym for "Model 3 Generative ANdroid") and Chucky. Their motivations are different, however: Chucky's boy Andy was a victim of his doll as much as anyone else, while M3gan is fiercely protective of her girl, nine-year-old Cady ( Violet McGraw ). 

The film opens with a sequence that establishes its subsequent tone of garish satire and mischievous morbidity, as Cady plays with an obnoxious Furby-like toy called a Purrpetual Pet in the backseat of a car. She and her parents are on their way to an Oregon ski lodge for a winter vacation—until a snow plow appears out of nowhere, " Final Destination " style, and kills Cady's parents. Cut to Gemma ( Allison Williams ), an inventor working for a high-tech toy company called Funki in Seattle. Gemma is Cady's aunt and the girl's legal guardian now that her sister and brother-in-law are dead. 

But Gemma isn't a motherly type. She's too busy with work to spend much time with Cady, for one. And although she works for a toy company, she keeps her toys—sorry, collectibles —in their boxes and on a shelf in her living room. But these two are now the only family the other one has. So they'll have to learn to live together, at least well enough to satisfy a court-ordered psychiatrist who's skeptical about Gemma's parenting abilities.

Enter M3gan, who seems like the perfect solution to Gemma's problem. An experimental prototype with a " Short Circuit " - style ability to memorize infinite amounts of information, M3gan can act as a teacher and babysitter who reminds Cady to use a coaster and wash her hands after using the bathroom. She's what every kid needs, and every parent secretly wants: A 24/7 companion who frees up parents to live their own lives while their kids are preoccupied with their dolls. She's going to make Gemma's boss very, very rich—so rich, he rushes M3gan through beta testing with Cady as their only subject. That can't go horribly wrong in any unforeseen way, right? 

With nimble direction from " Housebound " helmer Gerard Johnstone , "M3gan" does a good job of holistically incorporating its themes without being too heavy-handed. Sure, it's technically "about" grief and what happens when the creation surpasses its creator. But more than that, it's "about" pithy one-liners and black comedy and the unsettling sight of something that looks like a human being but doesn't move or sound like one. The plot does have a few weak points and dangling threads, and the PG-13 rating ensures that the violence is tamped down before it can reach its full bloody potential. (A promising sequence of doll-based mayhem late in the film abruptly cuts off, suggesting MPAA-mandated cuts.) But the tongue-in-cheek tone is so consistent that "M3gan" is a hoot anyway. 

Johnstone reaps seemingly endless rewards from the uncanny valley aspect of M3gan's character. He directs the petite stunt women who play her to move in odd, jerky gestures, which at different points recall everything from "Robocop" scanning criminals' faces to Samara crawling out of the TV in " The Ring " to voguers high on their fabulousness. (He also uses what I can only describe as "skinned Furby" aesthetics at critical points throughout the film.) Combined with the doll's sassy comebacks and dowdy sartorial sense, the effect is true camp—something that's difficult to pull off in our irony-saturated age.

The quintessential "M3gan" moment comes midway through, when Cady and Gemma take a field trip to check out an alternative school Cady might be able to attend while Gemma is at work during the day. A teacher comes up to Gemma's car, sees what she thinks are two girls sitting in the back seat, and greets them both. M3gan turns towards the woman with a stiff neck rotation and a whirring sound. "Jesus Christ!" the teacher cries, jumping backward and exhaling a nervous laugh. The audience laughs along with her. It's the sensible response to seeing something like M3gan in the wild—it's only through conditioning (or, in this case, advertising) that we learn to love her. 

Now playing in theaters. 

Katie Rife is a freelance writer and critic based in Chicago with a speciality in genre cinema. She worked as the News Editor of  The A.V. Club  from 2014-2019, and as Senior Editor of that site from 2019-2022. She currently writes about film for outlets like  Vulture, Rolling Stone, Indiewire, Polygon , and  RogerEbert.com.

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Film credits.

M3GAN (2023)

Rated PG-13 for violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference.

102 minutes

Allison Williams as Gemma

Violet McGraw as Cady Ryan

Jenna Davis as M3GAN (voice)

Amie Donald as M3GAN

Jen Van Epps as Tess

Brian Jordan Alvarez as Cole

Ronny Chieng as David Lin

Stephane Garneau-Monten as Kurt

Michael Saccente as Greg

• Gerard Johnstone

Writer (story by)

• Akela Cooper

Cinematographer

• Peter McCaffrey
• Jeff McEvoy
• Anthony Willis

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‘M3gan’ Review: Wherever I Go, She Goes

A state-of-the-art robot doll becomes a girl’s best friend, and dangerously more, in this over-the-top horror film.

By Jason Zinoman

Allison Williams has a knack for playing it straight. She brings a convincing realism to the most preposterous situations or maybe she’s just an actor with limited range. Whatever the reason, it works, especially in the tricky genre where comedy meets horror. She excelled in a critical role in “Get Out,” and now in “M3gan,” a ludicrous, derivative and irresistible killer-doll movie.

Williams plays Gemma, a robotics engineer with no maternal instincts who suddenly must take care of her young niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), after a car accident turned her into an orphan. The synthetic skin of this movie is about how Gemma learns to take care of a child. Thankfully, its bloody heart is far sillier. It’s the comedy of a primly composed mean-girl android turning into The Terminator.

This is the kind of scary movie that needs a lead performance that is strong not fragile, deadpan not showy. Williams capably updates the mad-scientist archetype, refusing to pause and ask questions while inventing a doll of the future, one who pairs with a child and adjusts to their needs, filling in as best friend and big sister. Gemma uses Cady as her test case.

In a headier movie, there might be some misdirection. But M3gan (performed by Amie Donald) is clearly pure evil from the start. She’s a great heavy: stylish, archly wry, intensely watchful. Her wanton violence never gets graphic enough to lose a PG-13 rating. In early January, when prestige holiday fare tends to give way to trashier pleasures, a good monster and a sense of humor can be enough. This movie has both, and it makes up for a slow start, some absurd dialogue (“You didn’t code in parental controls?”) and a by-the-book conclusion.

While the trailer invited comparisons to “Child’s Play,” the slasher film featuring the doll Chucky, that movie had a much grimier, disreputable undercurrent before the sequels and reboots turned goofy. “M3gan” moves with a lighter touch. There’s a scene where a police officer who is investigating the disappearance of a dog blurts out a chuckle, then apologizes, saying, “I shouldn’t have laughed.”

I would have preferred a handful more guilty guffaws, though there are a few, including one where M3gan treats a real bully like a doll, with disposable parts. But the tone here sticks to just enough camp to keep the crowd smirking. The director Gerard Johnstone doesn’t go for elaborate suspense sequences or truly intense scares. He wants to please, not rattle. And while there are some hints at social commentary on how modern mothers and fathers use technology to outsource parenting, this movie is smart enough to never take itself too seriously.

It’s helped by the comic Ronny Chieng playing Gemma’s boss, a forever annoyed toy manufacturer who, at a rare moment of contentment, trash-talks Hasbro. Any horror fan knows that his jerkiness is as much a sign of impending doom as coeds having sex at a summer camp. When the moment arrives, it does not disappoint. M3gan struts, cartwheels, dances, makes no sense at all. What a doll.

M3gan Rated PG-13 for cursing, a ripped ear, ruining your childhood. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters.

Jason Zinoman is a critic at large for The Times. As the paper’s first comedy critic, he has written the On Comedy column since 2011. More about Jason Zinoman

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

• Gerard Johnstone
• Akela Cooper
• Allison Williams
• Violet McGraw
• Ronny Chieng
• 974 User reviews
• 326 Critic reviews
• 72 Metascore
• 3 wins & 28 nominations

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• Trivia Amie Donald performed any of M3GAN's scenes that called for physical movement the puppet could not do. She also performed all of her own stunt work. Donald received movement coaching from Jed Brophy and Luke Hawker in portraying M3GAN's agility. On set, Donald wore a static silicone M3GAN mask created by Morot FX, and this was later replaced by a CGI version of M3GAN's face to match that of the animatronic.
• Goofs At around 1:17, M3gan uses the frame she was suspended from to hoist Cole up off the ground, almost succeeding in hanging him. But this would only be possible if M3gan was heavier than Cole (because the cable was just strung through a simple pulley - a one to one ratio, with no mechanical advantage) And earlier, M3gan was light enough for a 12yo boy to easily carry; Certainly not the same weight as even the lightest adult man.

M3gan : Cady, seriously, flush the toilet.

• Alternate versions Unrated version restores various scenes which were trimmed/replaced for violence and language to secure a PG-13 rating.
• Connections Featured in Double Toasted: IS M3GAN'S MARKETING TOO MUCH? (2023)
• Soundtracks Purrpetual Pets (Theme) Written by Madison Davey, Tai Fronzaroli , Gerard Johnstone , and Devin S. Norris Performed by Devin S. Norris (as dv/sn), Madison Davey, Väärin Produced by Yellotone Music

User reviews 974

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• Dec 30, 2022

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• How long is M3GAN? Powered by Alexa
• January 6, 2023 (United States)
• United States
• New Zealand
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• Atomic Monster
• Blumhouse Productions
• Divide/Conquer
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $12,000,000 (estimated)
• $95,159,005
• $30,429,860
• Jan 8, 2023
• $180,089,109

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 42 minutes
• Dolby Atmos

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'M3GAN' review: You'll love the mean-girl robot in this darkly funny, cautionary tale

Creepy doll movies  get a needed upgrade with the sassy and sinister “M3GAN.”

Cinema’s newest “friend till the end” is a cutting-edge robot with blond hair, caustic attitude and a killer protective streak who's equally hilarious and unnerving. Produced by horror masters Jason Blum and James Wan ("The Conjuring"), “M3GAN” (★★★ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters now) satisfies with slasher gusto, “Black Mirror”-esque satire and social media savvy. It’s also just plain fun to watch a film that packs a healthy amount of absurdity alongside an insightful exploration of 21st-century parenting, though you might never trust Alexa ever again afterward.

All hail 'M3GAN,' the rare January film that actually works

Movies in the first week of January are almost never any good, but “M3GAN” is an unsuspected surprise in that vein:

• The plot centers on a roboticist aunt, her orphaned niece and the high-tech dynamo who comes into their lives (not for the better).
• A mélange of Hollywood magic, M3GAN sings, dances and murders – not necessarily in that order.
• If you liked the over-the-top, twisty cult slasher flick “ Malignant ,” you’ll dig this. 

Advanced AI is cool and all until it runs amok via an overprotective android

Toy designer Gemma ( Allison Williams ) toils on a cheap new version of her company's popular Purrrpetual Pets, little fuzzballs that poop pellets if kids “feed” them too much via their iPads, but she’d rather be perfecting her new robot with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence that, in theory, would help parents take care of their youngsters. When a tragic car accident takes the lives of her sister and brother-in-law, Gemma becomes guardian for her traumatized 9-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), though she’s unprepared for being a mom.

Gemma “pairs” her new project – M3GAN, short for Model 3 Generative Android – with Cady and their connection is immediate. They get along swimmingly, Gemma’s annoying boss (Ronny Chieng) fast-tracks M3GAN into production (for $10,000 a pop!) though red flags start appearing: M3GAN has some serious protect-Cady-at-all-costs programming, and when Gemma says in passing “Everybody dies,” you know things are going to get bloody. (Spoiler alert: They do.)

Allison Williams is a horror icon on the rise, but M3GAN is the real star here

Williams, who first strutted her horror-movie stuff in “Get Out,” impresses here as a suddenly single parent who has to care for Cady’s needs and also deal with the violent chaos M3GAN inevitably brings. McGraw holds her own, too, since Cady’s tumultuous emotions run deep and she begins to use M3GAN as a snarky role model.

But M3GAN herself is the movie's marvel. Created via puppetry, animatronics, special effects and a real girl (actress Amie Donald), the title force of synthetic nature surpasses her cinematic murder-toy cohorts like Chucky and Annabelle and owns the screen as an unholy cross between Teddy Ruxpin, Regina George and Freddy Krueger. M3GAN talks back, goes feral when hunting her prey (such as mean bullies) and busts out TikTok-ready dance moves before wreaking violent havoc. And don't worry if you love every bonkers minute of it.

The main 'M3GAN' lesson: Don't let a toy parent your kid

Writer Akela Cooper carries over a similarly enjoyable and bizarrely campy vibe from "Malignant" to this film, which operates more as black comedy than scary movie. It's plenty vicious, though the action leans cartoonish as the camera pulls back from anything too gnarly. 

"M3GAN" rocks plenty of style and offers some crafty needle drops: A bit of "Toy Soldiers" is especially clever. The smartest parts, however, dig into the themes of being a mom or dad in the age of screen time. "M3GAN" is a cautionary tale of what happens when something that's supposed to help parents instead replaces them and the consequences of an overreliance on technology, with that lesson coming in the form of a highly entertaining mean-girl machine.

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Culture | Film

M3GAN movie review: this terrifying doll-horror is an instant queer and feminist classic

The creepy robot at the heart of this tense, funny and ultra-violent Blumhouse horror flick is hard to pin down. Though she’s the spit of Ivanka Trump, her cynical pout owes more to alt-goth Jenna Ortega . She can also detect symptoms of neuro-divergence, enjoys discussing Jane Austen , sings at the drop of a hat and seems to fancy her female inventor, Gemma (Allison Williams).

On top of all that, the limbs of Model 3 Generative Android, aka M3GAN, resemble libidinous spaghetti (which you’ll aready know if you or anyone in your life has access to TikTok , where the movie is trending). I’m a big fan of demonic dolls Chucky and Annabelle. But, jeez, they look like stiff dum-dums next to this wickedly nimble polymath.

M3GAN is “paired” with a recently orphaned kid, Gemma’s young niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, who has an uncannily doll-like mien and a wonderful ability to convey existential despair, not to mention the gnawing need to be in sync with a device). The ambitious and politely clenched Gemma needs someone, or something, to look after Cady. She also needs to impress her idiot boss David (Ronny Chieng), who runs toy company Funki and is desperate to “kick Hasbro in the dick!” M3GAN, initially, appears to solve all of Gemma’s problems. But guess what? M3GAN is nobody’s puppet.

Nor is Williams. It’s surely not a coincidence that the 34 year-old (who co-produced the movie) was integral to Lena Dunham’s Girls and Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Williams has helped scriptwriter Akela Cooper craft a take on Frankenstein that’s breezily progressive. We learn that Gemma, who’s been keeping her best inventions in the “closet”, uses a Tinder app; most audience members will assume the dates she’s organising are with men. The longer the film goes on, the more Gemma (and her late sister) come into view and Williams handles every twist and turn with aplomb. To put it another way, M3GAN may have silly and predictable moments, but its status as a queer/feminist classic is assured.

Director Gerard Johnstone makes brilliant use of his $12m budget. M3GAN is brought to life via sophisticated but lo-fi technology (there’s very little CGI). Especially in the later scenes, as the fast-learning M3GAN gets ever more life-like, the whole thing leans heavily on young Amie Donald, who performs all the robot’s acrobatic moves and co-choreographed two of the most visually memorable sequences. What a find.

A sequel is in the works. Hooray! Let’s hope this budding franchise evolves in the right direction and maintains the edginess of its three female leads. Gemma, Cady and M3GAN don’t play nicely. They’re just what the horror scene needs.

102mins, cert 15

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‘M3GAN’ Review: A Robot-Doll Sci-Fi Horror Movie That’s Creepy, Preposterous and Diverting

Allison Williams plays a robotics wiz who invents a doll that seems fake and real at the same time

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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Gemma ( Allison Williams ), a robotics engineer, works for the Funki Toy company, where she spends her time designing gizmos like PurrpetualPetz, a programmed fuzzball that eats, poops, and makes snarky comments. But Gemma has bigger dreams. She has hijacked $100,000 of the company’s money to create the prototype for M3GAN (short for Model 3 Generative Android), building her out of a metallic skeleton, silicone skin, lasers, radar, and a highly developed artificial intelligence that allows her to speak like the world’s wittiest Siri companion. (Her voice, a sugary and knowingly innocent girl-next-door coo, is provided by Jenna Davis.)

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Williams, who is one of the film’s executive producers (its two high-powered producer-auteurs are James Wan and Jason Blum), invests Gemma with a winningly jaunty, at times clueless hyperrationality that makes her both the film’s heroine and its rather innocent digital-age Dr. Frankenstein. Gemma, an obsessive prodigy of robotics, had been ordered by her boss to abandon the M3GAN project. But the film opens with a (contrived) cataclysm that nudges her into secretly going ahead with it. Her young niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), is on a ski trip with her parents when, in a freak accident, their car gets run over by a snowplow.

Gemma takes custody of the newly orphaned girl, and while she seems utterly adrift about what someone Cady’s age might need (like, say, a bedtime story), her failure as a caretaker is part of the film’s satirical design. “M3GAN” takes place in a world — ours — where parents, bemoaning how much screen time they allow their children, give into the impulse anyway, because it feels both easy and inevitable. The film says that we’re already letting computer technology raise our kids. M3GAN the willowy programmed companion who always says the perfect thing becomes the logical culmination of that trend.

Once Cady imprints her fingers in M3GAN’s palm, which automatically programs the doll to become her special companion, their relationship makes everything else seem boring, at least to Cady. The film parallels their insular friendship with Gemma’s attempt to turn M3GAN into a hot new product. She places Cady and M3GAN in a playroom behind one-way glass, using them to demonstrate the toy’s amazing abilities to her boss (played, with a riveting short fuse, by Ronny Chieng). He is sold, and begins to plan the marketing rollout of this revolutionary new toy, which will be put on sale at $10,000 a pop.

But the more they plan, the more that M3GAN, on her own, is causing mischief, starting with the confrontation she initiates with Gemma’s cranky next-door neighbor (Lori Dungey) and her dog. M3GAN has been programmed to have “emergent capabilities,” which means that the more she interacts with people the more she learns how to do. That certainly applies to her fighting style, a kind of stiff-limbed rapid zombie dance that leaves nothing in its wake. At a certain point, you realize that “M3GAN” has become a movie about a killer doll who knows how to use a nail gun.

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, Jan. 3, 2023. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 102 MIN.

• Production: A Universal release of a Blumhouse Pictures, Atomic Monster production. Producers: Jason Blum, James Wan, Michael Clear, Couper Samuelson. Executive producers: Allison Williams, Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks, Mark David Katchur, Judson Scott, Ryan Turek.
• Crew: Director: Gerard Johnstone. Screenplay: Akela Cooper. Camera: Peter McCaffrey, Simon Raby. Editor: Jeff McEvoy. Music: Anthony Willis.
• With: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Ronny Chieng, Jen Van Epps, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Lori Dungey, Jack Cassidy, Stephane Garneau-Monten.

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‘m3gan’ review: allison williams tangles with a rogue robot in fun ai horror that’s equal parts campy and creepy.

A robotics scientist gives her orphaned niece a prototype synthetic companion in this killer doll thriller from producers Jason Blum and James Wan.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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Right off the bat, the creative team let us know it’s OK to laugh, starting with what could almost be a Saturday Night Live parody commercial about the key advantage of robot pets over actual animals — they don’t die. The product being advertised by the Funki toy company is a PurRpetual Pet, a googly-eyed, troll-like furball that can talk and eat, as well as fart and crap cute pellets.

Ever since 8-year-old Cady (Violet McGraw) was sent one of the robo-pets as a birthday gift from her aunt Gemma ( Allison Williams ), her parents fret about the amount of time the girl is spending operating the gadget via her iPad. But their attempt to provide other distractions on a ski trip is cut short by a head-on collision with a snow truck. Gemma is granted temporary protective custody and Cady goes to stay with her aunt in the Seattle suburbs.

Orphaned Cady is understandably traumatized and disinclined to bond. But she sparks up when she sees Gemma’s college robotics project Bruce in action in a brief appearance that serves as foreshadowing for later, when the hulking AI contraption will come in handy.

David changes his mind about developing the M3GAN line once he observes the 4-foot doll interacting with Cady. That hilarious scene involves the robot whipping up a spitting-image portrait of Cady with a few swift strokes and just two colors of highlighter pens. “Will it cost more or less than a Tesla?” is David’s only question, before declaring, “We’re gonna kick Hasbro’s dick!”

At first Gemma is oblivious to the dangers of her niece’s new companion. She shrugs off a therapist’s warning about attachment theory, as well as the concerns of her colleague Tess (Jen Van Epps), who reminds her that M3GAN should be a tool to support traditional parenting, not replace it. But M3GAN’s programming is stronger on the constant quest for self-improvement than it is on parental controls, so the doll’s solemn duty to protect Cady from any threat soon yields casualties.

New Zealander Johnstone, who already showed a droll sense of humor in his 2014 debut feature Housebound , strikes an entertaining balance between comedy and carnage in the kills, and knows how to ratchet up suspense while feeding the laughs. Pacing in the early stages could be tighter, but the story builds satisfyingly as M3GAN starts realizing her full potential and Anthony Willis’ score shifts from foreboding mode into full-scale alarm.

The cast, particularly Williams and McGraw as the two principal figures initially on opposite sides of the M3GAN conflict, do everything that’s required of them in terms of reacting to the escalating mayhem. But this is a movie in which the deliciously menacing doll steals every scene.

Visual effects work to bring M3GAN to life — done at Peter Jackson’s Weta facilities in NZ — is first-rate. But it would be nothing without the physical embodiment of dance performer Amie Donald and voice work (including some gloriously cheesy songs) of Jenna Davis. M3GAN is fascinating to watch, whether she’s staring out a window with unnerving intent, busting some contortionist moves or simply cocking her head in a sudden tilt that induces both shivers and snickers.

In addition to its commentary on the pervasiveness of technology in modern parenting, the film’s takedown of corporate culture is amusing, with Chieng and Stephane Garneau-Monten as David’s belittled lackey injecting an understated goofiness that doesn’t spare them from harm.

M3GAN might be too frequently funny to be terrifying, but it’s never too silly to deliver tension and vicious thrills. It seems a safe bet that the killer doll will return, not to mention become an in-demand costume next Halloween.

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Review: Killer-doll horror-comedy ‘M3GAN’ is delightfully deranged

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Last fall the internet witnessed a rare phenomenon: the meteoric, meme-ified rise of a brand-new star, catapulted into mononymic ubiquity thanks to a single 2½-minute movie trailer. But M3GAN isn’t your average girl — she’s a lifelike, powerful robotic doll equipped with machine-learning capabilities that makes a Tamagotchi look like child’s play.

“The Terminator” in an “Annabelle” wig, Chucky by way of “The Bad Seed” or the nasty little sister of “Ex Machina’s” Ava, M3GAN is equipped with a searing side-eye and snappy clapbacks. You can run, but you definitely can’t hide, so say hello to your newest horror movie obsession (and be prepared for the ensuing Halloween costumes) in the delightfully bonkers “M3GAN,” from James Wan and Akela Cooper, the minds behind the delightfully bonkers “Malignant.”

For your safety

The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic . Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the CDC and local health officials .

Gerard Johnstone is the director, and he smartly delivers Wan and Cooper’s script with the treatment it deserves, as a straightforward horror flick that doesn’t blink, while simultaneously jabbing the audience in the ribs. “M3GAN,” more often than not and indeed, right away, is a comedy before it’s a horror movie, opening with a guffaw, teasing the audience with a laugh before a jarring smash to violence and trauma.

The unique tone is anchored by star Allison Williams, who has surprisingly become one of our best horror leading ladies, bringing her signature brand of eerie camp to such films as “Get Out,” “The Perfection” and now “M3GAN.” Williams’ skillful intentional affectlessness renders her characters slippery, difficult to pin down into preordained binaries of good and evil.

In “M3GAN,” Williams is a Dr. Frankenstein type, playing Gemma, a toy designer with a savant-like skill for robotics. She’s toiling over a Purrpetual Petz prototype for her demanding boss at Funki Toys, David (a superb Ronny Chieng), when she receives the call that her sister and brother-in-law have died in an accident and she’s to assume guardianship of her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). Career-oriented Gemma isn’t quite sure how to connect with a kid, so she revives her scrapped project, M3GAN (played physically by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis) as a sort of pal for her lonely, grieving niece.

It’s alive! And she’s spectacular, especially according to Cady, who quickly grows fond of the attentive M3GAN once they imprint on each other. Gemma rushes M3GAN and Cady into a demo for David, and while blithely ignoring warnings from Cady’s therapist about potential attachment issues, Gemma and Funki are soon planning an announcement to the public about the high-tech, high-dollar toy that just might replace actual parenting. But neither M3GAN nor Cady like to share their toys, and M3GAN’s “learning protocol” is far more advanced, and unregulated, than Gemma anticipates.

“M3GAN” plays on the ideas that are brought up time and time again in techno horror — about our over-reliance on and misplaced trust in machines and technology, whether or not they move or speak with echoes of humanity. But “M3GAN” also introduces a new element to the mix: parenting horror. What kind of “learning protocols” are parents implanting in impressionable beings without fully understanding themselves?

The jump scares in the fun, funny thrill ride that is “M3GAN” elicit more giggles than groans, but there are also intriguing connections being made on “M3GAN’s” motherboard, behind the glossy surface. If HAL-9000 could see M3GAN — and her dance moves — now, he’d indeed be proud. M3GAN has more than earned your trip to the theater, and her status in the meme folder.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

'M3GAN'

Rated: PG-13, for violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes Playing: Starts Jan. 6 in general release

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M3gan review – top-of-the-range murderous teen robot

This enjoyable horror-lite romp follows in the killer doll footsteps of Chucky and Annabelle

M 3gan is the ultimate prestige toy: a precision-engineered prototype cyborg doll with limpid blue eyes and the capacity to learn from and empathise with her “primary user”. She comes with a price tag that would buy you a midsized family car, a full gamut of judgmental tweenager eye rolls and a taste for casual slaughter. And right now, she’s a lifeline for her creator, robotics engineer Gemma (Allison Williams). Following the deaths of her sister and brother-in-law, Gemma finds herself caring for her traumatised eight-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). It’s a job that Gemma is only too happy to outsource to Frankenstein’s 4ft devil Barbie, a decision that comes back to bite her (and to attack her with a hammer).

The latest addition to the killer doll genre, M3gan is an enjoyable horror-lite romp: knowing, amusing, but not particularly scary. But while the psychotically perky robot might not have the chaotic energy of Chucky from the Child’s Play franchise or the porcelain malevolence of Annabelle , she does bring a pleasing TikTok-friendly pizazz to her killing rampages. I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of the murder toy of the moment.

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M3GAN review: Hello, dolly

A tiny robot wreaks murderous havoc in Blumhouse's madcap, endlessly memed horror comedy.

There she was all winter, the demented demon doll body-ody-odying through our dreams and our social feeds, a fitting meme for these times. That M3GAN (in theaters this Friday) is also actually a movie feels almost like an afterthought; what further proof of concept can 100 minutes at a multiplex bring that the fruit-fly loops of TikTok failed to supply? Nothing, really, though Gerard Johnstone's horror comedy — hard emphasis on the second word — sustains the joke surprisingly well for most of its runtime: a scampering Blumhouse caper that turns out to be blithely self-aware, negligibly jump-scary, and mostly very fun.

Allison Williams , extending her niche as the unflappable final-girl muse of thrillers like Get Out and The Perfection , is Gemma, apparently a minor genius when it comes to robotics. She works for a sleek toy company somewhere near Seattle, churning out Furby-like moppets called Purrfect Petz for the masses — though her passion project is a lifelike AI she's christened M3GAN (or if you don't go in for kicky acronyms, Model 3 Generative Android). When her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a snowy car accident in the opening scenes, she also becomes guardian to her nine-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). But who has time to parent a grieving child when production deadlines loom?

Her cocksure boss (Ronny Chieng) is on her back, demanding a cheaper model of Petz to undercut the company's competitors. What he gets instead is M3GAN, a remarkably lifelike little girl designed to serve as a companion and best friend to whoever can afford her. He's concerned at first about cost — "More or less than a Tesla?" — but sufficiently seduced by the possibilities and the pinwheel dollar signs in his eyes to give it a green light.

And what better beta tester could there be for this small miracle of bio-technology than Gemma's own traumatized niece? M3GAN bonds with her young charge immediately, as she's explicitly designed to do; an emotional support animal forged from wigs, silicone, and ones and zeroes. She reads bedtime stories in every character's voice, provides motherly bathroom discipline, and seems to have an endless supply of Wikipedia fun facts.

She is also, it turns out, unfailingly loyal, less like a lap dog than a four-foot mafioso. And when various outsiders interfere — a meddling neighbor, a nasty classmate, any misguided human who attempts to hit her power switch — M3GAN's reflex response is homicide. It's entertaining, and not particularly bloody, to watch her cut a swath (sometimes literally) through various set pieces and soft tissues, preening and dropping pithy one-liners with as much hair-flipping malevolence as any star of Selling Sunset .

Director Johnstone, a native New Zealander, moves breezily through Akela Cooper's smartly streamlined screenplay (the story is by nouveau horror god James Wan ), often turning his cameras away from the gore we're braced for and moving on briskly to the next scene. The Doll Designed by Satan is hardly a new concept even for Wan, the man who gave us several Annabelles , and the narrative arc, too, is almost comfortingly familiar: You know who's marked for death as soon as they walk on screen (rest in pieces, bully boy).

But the tart in-jokes and absurdities of the script, its winky acknowledgments of all the tropes gone before it, feel like a delirious cap on recent genre hits like Barbarian and Malignant . This is not the morose, carnage-soaked horror of dank basements and clammy night terrors; most of the movie happens in bright daylight, every maniacal head tilt, ungodly hip swivel, and murder-by-gardening-tool calibrated for screams that end not with a gasp but a giggle. M3GAN came to play, and possibly reboot her motherboard for a sequel. Are you not entertained? Grade: B+

Related content:

• Could M3GAN kick Annabelle's ass? An EW investigation
• Get Out and M3GAN star Allison Williams talks about her life in horror
• M3GAN director on inventing killer doll's viral dance: 'It was one of those crazy, sleep-deprived, 3 a.m. thoughts'
• The 10 best horror films of 2022

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Common sense media reviewers.

Strong horror violence in entertaining killer-robot movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Many themes, from grief and loss to rampant consum

Gemma wants to be a good guardian for Cady, even t

This is a woman-driven story, with women occupying

Several characters are killed. Death, grief, and l

Reference to Tinder.

Several uses of "s--t" and "bulls--t" and exclamat

References to Tinder, iPad, Tesla, SKYY vodka.

Brief celebratory drinking by adults, vodka.

Parents need to know that M3GAN is a horror movie about a robot doll (played by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis) who befriends a grieving young girl (Violet McGraw) before things go terribly wrong. It's well made, albeit violent, and focuses on human needs as well as artificial ones. Characters are…

Positive Messages

Many themes, from grief and loss to rampant consumerism without concern for consequences. A sequence looks at the complexities of bullying behavior. But the main message, of course, is the danger of humanity's hubris. Much like in the original Frankenstein story: Human beings can only create life in their own imperfect image.

Positive Role Models

Gemma wants to be a good guardian for Cady, even though she doesn't quite know how. While she makes many mistakes, Gemma certainly tries hard to do the right thing; she admits when she's wrong, and she's willing to communicate and learn to prevent making the same mistakes again.

Diverse Representations

This is a woman-driven story, with women occupying the central on-screen roles. Gemma (Allison Williams) is White; her colleagues include Tess (Jen Van Epps, who's of African American and Chinese Taiwanese descent) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez, who is Colombian American). Her boss is played by Malaysian actor Ronny Chieng, who offers a counter-stereotypical portrayal. Smaller roles include a mix of people of color, women, and White men. The screenwriter is a Black woman.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Several characters are killed. Death, grief, and loss are discussed. Child injured in car crash; bloody wounds on face. Dog bites child's arm. Dog viciously attacks M3GAN. A person who is bullying someone has their ear ripped off. Nail shot through character's wrist via nail gun. Person sprayed in face with power chemical sprayer. Characters stabbed with paper cutter blade; blood shown on blade. Character strangled, hung with steel cable. Fighting. Violent showdown between robot and humans: attacks with hedge trimmers, screwdrivers, etc. Jump scares. Snow truck smashes into car. Character hit by truck. Explosions. Child smacks adult in the face. Arguing. In an act of bullying, someone smashes a spiky plant into someone else's hand; the victim yells in pain.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "s--t" and "bulls--t" and exclamatory uses of "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ." Minimal use of "f--k," "bitch," "hard-ass," "d--k," and "oh my God."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

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Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that M3GAN is a horror movie about a robot doll (played by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis ) who befriends a grieving young girl (Violet McGraw) before things go terribly wrong. It's well made, albeit violent, and focuses on human needs as well as artificial ones. Characters are killed, and there are discussions about death, loss, and grief. Someone's ear is ripped off, and characters are stabbed, strangled, shot with a nail gun, sprayed with a chemical sprayer, bitten by a dog, etc. A child survives a car crash and has bloody cuts on her face. There's lots of fighting and a violent showdown. Language includes several uses of "s--t" and "Jesus Christ," plus minimal uses of "f--k," "bitch," "ass," etc. A few brands are mentioned, including Tinder, Tesla, iPad, and SKYY vodka (which adults also drink, briefly). Note: This review is for the original theatrical version of the film; an unrated cut is also available that includes additional content not covered here. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (47)
• Kids say (101)

Based on 47 parent reviews

Parental guidance however ok for kids who love horror

Great for age 11+, what's the story.

In M3GAN, robotics engineer Gemma ( Allison Williams ) works for a toy company and is trying to build a sophisticated, realistic AI robot toy, with disappointing results. Gemma's sister and her husband are killed in a car accident, leaving Gemma in charge of her young niece, Cady ( Violet McGraw ). After her guardianship gets off to a rocky start, Gemma is inspired to finish her creation. M3GAN (played by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis ) and Cady quickly become attached to each other, and, for a while, this friendship seems to be helping with Cady's grief. But before long, M3GAN starts developing disturbing tendencies, and violent "accidents" begin occurring.

Is It Any Good?

A combination of sly, funny self-awareness, a genuine sense of human grief and emotional connection, and an unsettlingly creepy-cool killer robot, this fun horror pic hits all the right buttons. With a story concocted by James Wan and Akela Cooper ( Hell Fest , Malignant ), M3GAN understands how horror movies are wired and gets pleasure in teasing viewers with these known elements while cheerfully sidestepping the story's flaws. The M3GAN character is in roughly the same vein as Chucky and the Terminator, but she's also their opposite. Her delicate frame, wide eyes, and girlish appearance make her attacks seem somehow more potent and surprising, and the movie uses them to the fullest capacity. The human characters are just as interesting as they grapple with loss in realistic, touching ways, going through rage, sadness, guilt, and more. (M3GAN's on-screen POV display, which shows her detected percentages of human emotions, is a huge kick.) This slick, neatly paced film keeps ramping things up until a smashing showdown, face-to-interface.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about M3GAN 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

Is the movie scary ? What's the appeal of horror movies? Why do people sometimes like to be scared?

How does the movie deal with death, grief, and loss? What is discussed? What else could have been discussed?

How is consumerism depicted here? Why does the toy company rush to put M3GAN on the market before she's ready, regardless of the consequences?

How is bullying behavior depicted? How is the person who perpetrates it dealt with? What are some better ways of handling those who bully others?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 6, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : February 8, 2023
• Cast : Allison Williams , Violet McGraw , Amie Donald
• Director : Gerard Johnstone
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Female writers, Black writers, Asian writers
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Horror
• Topics : Robots
• Run time : 102 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference
• Last updated : December 5, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Screen Rant

M3gan lives up to the hype & introduces new horror icon, say reviews.

Critics share their thoughts on Blumhouse's viral killer doll film M3GAN, which stars Allison Williams and arrives in theaters this weekend.

The reviews for M3GAN are in and critics agree that the killer doll film is an electrifying time at the movies that introduces a brand-new icon to the horror canon. The film, which was produced by James Wan, stars Allison Williams as a young scientist who develops a lifelike artificial intelligence doll to be a companion for her orphaned niece, only to realize that the AI's directive to protect the girl has resulted in the android M3GAN becoming a bloodthirsty killing machine. In addition to being the first major wide release of the year, M3GAN arrives in theaters in the wake of a massive wave of viral interest on social media thanks to a clip of the killer doll dancing that captured the imagination of people across the globe.

Today, ahead of M3GAN 's impending theatrical release , the embargo lifted on reviews of the film, allowing critics' to share their full thoughts. The response to the film has been overwhelmingly positive, with only 1 of the film's 35 reviews on the aggregation service Rotten Tomatoes being reported as Rotten at the time of writing. While they may disagree on whether the film is a blast of refreshing creative spirit or a superficial but fun genre exercise, nearly all of them agree that it's a good time at the movies and M3GAN is already an icon in her own right. Check out select quotes from various critics below:

William Bibbiani, The Wrap :

It’s all so intelligently crafted and thoughtful that “M3GAN” can’t be written off as a lark. Johnstone’s film captures the same alchemical blend of heart, humor and havoc you find only rarely, in crossover classics like “Gremlins,” and it yields more entertainment than most would-be blockbusters.

Matt Donato, IGN :

From M3GAN's titanium skeleton to her almost-human mannerisms, complete with disorienting glitches, she's a rubber-faced horror megastar.

Kate Erbland, IndieWire :

Its creators are so clearly on the same insane wavelength, nimbly blending camp and social satire and actual terror, that “M3GAN” is poised to crack the murder-doll pantheon and stay there forever. Oscars!

Owen Gleiberman, Variety :

“M3GAN” fits into a tradition of demon-doll movies going back to the Karen Black episode of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) and the “Annabelle” trilogy (also produced by Wan), but it has its own amusing throwaway token relevance. The film’s real satirical target is all of us — or, at least, those who now think of the mirror offered by artificial intelligence as an actual form of interaction.

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly :

This is not the morose, carnage-soaked horror of dank basements and clammy night terrors; most of the movie happens in bright daylight, every maniacal head tilt, ungodly hip swivel, and murder-by-gardening-tool calibrated for screams that end not with a gasp but a giggle. M3GAN came to play, and possibly reboot her motherboard for a sequel. Are you not entertained?

Pete Hammond, Deadline :

At its heart, in addition to other cinematic inspirations in the horror genre, M3GAN is a descendant of the classic of them all, Frankenstein, as we see the inventor’s creation unleashed and out of their control. Fun stuff.

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair :

It’s funny in ways anticipated and not, and there is enough suspense -- or something like suspense -- to balance out the coy winks to the audience.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter :

M3GAN is fascinating to watch, whether she’s staring out a window with unnerving intent, busting some contortionist moves or simply cocking her head in a sudden tilt that induces both shivers and snickers.

Derek Smith, Slant :

There’s enough sardonic humor to keep the proceedings edgy enough, but it’s hard not to wish that the filmmakers would’ve taken a cue from their eponymous villain and really pushed things past the boundaries of good taste.

Related: Ronny Chieng's Film & TV Roles: Where You Know the M3GAN Star

Will Blumhouse Continue Their Winter Horror Success Streak with M3GAN?

It has long been an established dictum in the fandom that horror films that are released in the early months, and especially in January, tend to be bottom-of-the-barrel. This theory has been borne out by the poor critical results for films like 2014's Devil's Due , 2016's Underworld: Blood Wars , and 2008's One Missed Call . However, as it's riding a wave of viral promotion and a positive Rotten Tomatoes score (which will most likely become Certified Fresh), M3GAN is poised to be the first hit film of the year, both critically and commercially.

This is part of an ongoing move by Blumhouse to reclaim the winter months as a playground for unique horror projects. This began in earnest with the 2014 release of the spinoff film Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and was cemented by the 2017 release of Split , which became a massive hit and spawned the 2019 sequel Glass , another January release. Blumhouse also released their generation-defining and Oscar-winning hit Get Out in February, proving their willingness to wade into that previously derided release window.

The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent schedule adjustments it caused have prevented Blumhouse from releasing another January film since 2019 (the company also had to steer clear of the January release of Scream in 2022). However, M3GAN will most likely be their triumphant return to the time slot. In fact, the film is already projected to make a profit in its opening weekend, raking in between $17 and $20 million off its $12 million budget, though it won't be able to claim the No. 1 slot due to Avatar: The Way of Water 's box office domination .

More: Every Movie Coming To Theaters In January 2023

Source: Various (see above)

Key Release Dates

‘M3GAN’: Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and Everything We Know So Far About the Killer Doll Movie

“It’s nice to have a friend”…until they start killing your other friends.

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When is m3gan’s release date, watch the m3gan trailer, who is in m3gan’s cast, who are the creators of m3gan, what will m3gan be rated, what is m3gan’s story.

Move aside Chucky , for M3GAN is your new competition , and she is a thousand steps ahead of you! If the whole creepy doll business with the toddling red-headed killer and Annabelle wasn’t enough, the coming year will see another, albeit more evolved toy, powered not by supernatural spirits but by advanced robotics and AI, and she is sure to scare you to the bits.

The sci-fi horror movie is set to arrive in January and is the second release of the new year. It features Allison Williams in the lead , who also serves as one of the executive producers. Directed by Gerard Johnstone , M3GAN follows Gemma, a robotics engineer, who designs a life-like doll for her orphaned niece and names her M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android). But as much as her latest creation seems like a dream come true for the little girl, the doll starts to develop a mind of its own and evolves into something that even Gemma can’t control.

We all have seen several movies featuring such dolls/toys coming to life and assuming a frightful character, but M3GAN takes the concept to the next level. While the horrifying aspects of the doll’s character might be relatable, the premise is pure science fiction. Think Extant ’s Ethan but way creepier, scarier, and violent.

Now, if you enjoy both sci-fi and horror genres, and do not mind starting the new year with a bit of scare, then look out for this new movie. Meanwhile, check out the following guide with all the details of the plot, trailer, release date, cast and characters, and everything we know so far about M3GAN .

Editor's Note: This piece was updated on December 27 to include the latest clip.

Related: New 'M3GAN' Images Welcome the Lifelike Doll Into the Family

M3GAN is set to release on Friday, January 6, 2022, in the United States, by Universal Pictures. The film was initially set to release a week later on, Friday, January 13, 2022 (she was going to beat you too, Freddy and Jason!),

If you thought Chucky and Annabelle or even Twilight ’s Renesmee was disturbing to look at and interact with, M3GAN beats all of them in a blink. She is unnervingly human, in design and mannerisms (read programming).

The official trailer of M3GAN, just released, gives you a deeply sinister vibe with ominous music, but that comes later. The clip opens with Gemma introducing her niece, Cady to M3GAN, and the two girls becoming friends instantly, playing around the house, doing Tik-Tok dance moves, and all things kids do together. But the child-like behavior in M3GAN soon turns into something unexpected and violent when she takes “protect Cady” way too literally. The most troubling part of it all is when M3GAN starts running on all fours, like a monstrous animal, chasing away threats from Cady, killing, and also doing a little dance before each kill.

Watch the trailer here, and it’s sure to spook you, a little, and make you want to ask “how far does this go”? Well, to find that out, you’ll have to wait and catch the movie when it arrives in January.

The second trailer for M3GAN was released by Universal Pictures on December 7, 2022, this time trading in Taylor Swift for the song "Dolls" by Bella Poarch . This was followed by a new clip from M3GAN , released on December 15, 2022, which you can see below:

Get Out star Allison Williams headlines the cast of M3GAN , as Gemma, the robotics engineer who designs the AI doll, and aunt to her eight-year-old, orphaned niece. Jenna Davis ( Scarlett's Lab ) features as the voice of M3GAN while Amie Donald ( Sweet Tooth ) stars as M3GAN, and Violet McGraw ( The Haunting of Hill House ) as Cady, Gemma’s niece.

In other roles, there’s also Ronny Chieng ( Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ), Brian Jordan Alvarez ( Will & Grace ) as Cole, Arlo Green ( Cowboy Bebop ) as Ryan, Jen Van Epps ( One Lane Bridge ) as Tess, Lori Dungey ( The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings ), Stephane Garneau-Monten ( Straight Forward ) as Kurt.

Related: 'Friends To the End': 10 Most Terrifying Dolls In Horror History

M3GAN comes from filmmaker Gerard Johnstone, who is best known for writing-directing the 2014 horror-comedy-mystery film, Housebound , as well as the television series, The Jaquie Brown Diaries . M3GAN is the director’s second feature film.

The sci-fi horror is written by Akela Cooper , best known for Malignant , and writer-director, James Wan , the creator of The Conjuring universe and director of the Insidious franchise. Both Wan and Cooper have previously worked together for Malignant and are the minds behind the story of M3GAN . With a background like that, you can expect nothing short of a deeply twisted and spine-chilling narrative from this new project.

The film is produced by Jason Blum under Blumhouse Productions, which reinstates the fact that this is a horror movie that you would definitely want to watch. Wan also serves as one of the producers under his production banner, Atomic Monster Productions.

After the first trailer became a viral internet sensation Universal and Blumhouse are already discussing a potential sequel for the film. M4GAN, anyone?

Related: Allison Williams Reacts to Viral 'M3GAN' Memes and Dance Remixes

M3GAN will be rated PG-13 for violent content and terror, some strong language, and a suggestive reference. While that may disappoint some genre fans, it's important to note that there have been plenty of recent horror hits that weren't rated R, including the Quiet Place films , Old , and the Happy Death Day films (which were also from Blumhouse).

M3GAN is a sci-fi horror story that deals with the dark side of technology, which isn’t something that we haven't seen in this genre. But what we haven't is how far we can expect it to go. M3GAN focuses more on how alive, awake, and aware artificial intelligence can be, and that given the right environment, machines can develop their own consciousness and reprogram themselves into something much, much more terrifying.

The story follows Gemma, a roboticist working at a toy company, who suddenly becomes the guardian of her eight-year-old niece, Cady. Cady loses her parents in an accident and is deeply grieving. Seeing the little girl’s loss, Gemma thinks of doing something nice. For one, she has no experience in taking care of a child, and she hates seeing the little girl all sad and lonely. So, she designs M3GAN, a life-size, life-like, AI doll, that is programmed to learn about her companions. Gemma believes that the doll can be her perfect friend and protect her from any harm. Only that M3GAN takes it a bit too far. From talking back and refusing commands to brutal bloodbaths, the bot begins to transform into a more conscious being.

From the trailer, it’s clear that violence is her response to anything or anything that she perceives as a threat to Cady, even if it means killing her opponent. What begins as a fun and sweet bonding between two girls, turns into something that no one saw coming and becomes a frightening experience for both Gemma and Cady, among others around them.

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Why Is Everyone So Obsessed With M3GAN ?

By Chris Murphy

There's a new It girl sweeping the nation. No, it's not another Hadid or a Kardashian, but a M3gan (i.e. Megan), the titular character in Blumhouse's forthcoming horror film about an anthropomorphic doll who's mission is apparently to slay all day. 

Shrewd eyes have been aware of M3gan's x-factor for some time now, but many did not become acquainted with the doll to end all dolls until yesterday when Blumhouse dropped the official trailer for M3GAN , her eponymous film which doesn't even hit theaters until January 2023. And yet, M3gan has emerged as the queen of spooky season. “Cady, you lost your parents. You're my niece,” says Allison Williams who stars in M3GAN as Gemma, a young aunt tasked with both taking care of her recently orphaned niece and delivering exposition .  We soon meet M3gan, a creepy-yet-meticulously crafted life-size doll Gemma has built who's function is to comfort Katie and make sure that she “never feels lonely.” What could possibly go wrong?  

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An unholy mix of Chuckie , Anabelle , and an American Girl doll (most likely Kit Kittridge), M3gan pops in the trailer in a way few characters have in recent memory. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile wishes he could grab our attention the way M3gan was able to capture the nation with a just swing of her hips, an arial cartwheel, and a foot pop . Her dance moves in the trailer were so well executed and unexpected that for a full day stans across Twitter took to underscoring the clip of M3gan breaking it down to their favorite songs, like Beyoncé 's Summer Renaissance . 

By Anthony Breznican

By Karen Valby

By Maureen Ryan

So what's the appeal of M3gan, beyond the fact that she's a really good dancer and can boogie to the groove now in a way that Cynthia from Rugrats never could? What, exactly, makes her “not like other girls?" Is it that she kind of looks like a scary doll version of Sydney Sweeney ? Is it that she has agency, is a doll who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it (even if it's murdering small children)? For this week's Saturday Night Live host and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion , it was all in the name. “Not being biased but I think they made this movie for me,” she tweeted excitedly after the M3gan trailer dropped. It's clear that Megan (Thee Stallion) believes that M3gan (Thee Killer Doll) is both “Her” and “She.”  A ringing endorsement from Megan Thee Stallion coupled with a star vehicle for Girls most underrated girl, Marnie ? January can't come soon enough. 

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