M3GAN movie review: This horror movie is a creepy, madcap delight

Going into M3GAN, I was fully prepared for a chilling experience. The story is about an AI-powered, talking doll going rogue, after all. And indeed, the movie often does maintain a creepy feeling and a sense of dread. And towards the end, it enters into downright terrifying territory. But I was not at all ready for how wacky and hilarious the movie would be. Directed by Gerard Johnstone (whose Housebound should be on the watchlist of every horror comedy lover) and written by Akela Cooper, the film is both a departure and a homage to creepy doll movies like Annabelle and Chucky franchises.

Allison Williams' Gemma works as a roboticist in a company that makes high-tech robotic companion toys for children. She has been developing a secret prototype for a lifelike doll with advanced capabilities like sentience, heightened intelligence, realistic facial expressions, and she can also learn and adapt to her environment by processing information fed through her "eyes". Like other products of the company, M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android) is meant to care for kids, both physically and emotionally, in their parents' absence but has not been properly tested.

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Gemma is saddled with the responsibility of her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw) whose parents died in a car accident. Conveniently for Gemma, for whom guardianship is strange and scary, Cady comes as a perfect subject for M3GAN. The little girl is paired with the robot as a primary user.

M3GAN is naturally protective of Cady, and Gemma allows herself some work while the child is under the care of the robot. But what she did not anticipate was the strength and sentient mind of her own creation. To paraphrase that great chaotician, Ian Malcolm, she was so preoccupied with whether she could, she didn’t stop to think if she should. The consequences are gradually disastrous.

M3GAN was programmed to protect Cady from each and everything she deems to be a threat to her ward, and she does not possess a sense of conscience or any other human qualities that may make her rethink her decisions. An excitable neighbourhood dog, a bully at school, potentially even Gemma — anyone endangering Cady or even raising her anxiety levels is a menace to be eliminated. Even when Gemma wants Cady to eat her vegetables, M3GAN looks at her with a frightening awareness that she will utilise later in the film.

Universal's marketing campaign for M3GAN is a legend by now, though I took great care to steer clear of it (which involves muting related keywords on Twitter, and so on. I am nothing if not thorough). And turned out to be great. M3GAN should ideally be watched without learning anything about it. Due to my job, I had to see the trailer. But they were, thankfully, not too spoiler-ish. I managed to avoid posters, promo clips, interviews, and even reviews.

M3GAN is a joy from start to finish, irrespective of your general opinion on creepy doll movies. For the titular doll is a thing of dark majesty, and a far cry from the mostly passive dolls in other horror media. The design is extremely careful and deliberate to evoke a sense of uncanny valley, instead of hyperrealism. M3GAN's eyes look shadowed and always seem to possess a devilish intelligence that is far beyond human capacity. The doll is frightening in a primal way, and way before it actually begins to wreak havoc.

The throughlines are a bit pat and done better in other movies: dangers of AI,kids' relation to gadgets, and so on. But you will be hard pressed to notice any of that, M3GANis so consistently entertaining.

And despite all the horror, gore, and screams, M3GAN, the movie that is, remains winking and self-reverential. Even a couple of deaths are funny — never mind the clotting blood on the slit throat — and you will not even feel guilty for laughing.

I cannot for the life of me understand what took Johnstone so long to direct a movie again. He has retained his keen sense of combining the winking humour and the macabre in a delicious, irresistible combination. Cooper's script is almost entirely without a weak spot.

M3GAN is an unadulterated joy.