M3GAN (review) – it doesn’t want to scare you – but it does want to crack you up and creep you out

---

M3GAN is now playing in cinemas nationwide.

---

It seems the world of horror has a new favourite pint-sized psychopath. From unnerving stares at baseball games to cliques of clones dancing at various premieres, the marketing for M3GAN has been laser-focused, creating viral moment after moment in an impressive streak. The expected explosion of M3GAN fever was so great that even Blumhouse head honcho Jason Blum arrived at the Los Angeles premiere styled after the robot herself – but what is the diagnosis?

---

---

The presence of Malignant screenwriter Akela Cooper is immediately clear from M3GAN’s opening moments, as it skewers the typical children’s toy commercial, supercharged with a thousand cuts, flashy colours and a bombastic voiceover demanding all children buy a Funki toy. A constantly playful demeanour is set up from the outset, which only increases as we become acquainted with the doll herself. Young Cady is saddled with her career-focused aunt Gemma, played by the fantastic Allison Williams, and the two have an innately Odd Couple relationship. The only obligation between the pair is that they’re aware they need each other to sustain a relatively normal life for Cady – enter M3GAN. 

Director Gerard Johnstone provides an inversion of the typical killer unmasking. Here we’re given unfiltered access to the truth beneath M3GAN’s silicone hood, augmented with jargon-dense circuitry and scientific lingo that tells us, ‘This is one advanced toy’. There’s an impressive amalgamation between Amie Donald’s physical presence and Jenna Davis’ vocal performance – small sonic glitches and jerky, precise movement work in tandem to present this strange being grappling with the very idea of being alive, constantly educating herself and ‘recalibrating’, as she puts it. Cady immediately bonds to M3GAN like glue, initially to Gemma’s glee which soon turns sour as the invention begins to outgrow its creator.

---

M3GAN in M3GAN directed by Gerard Johnstone.

---

M3GAN and Gemma’s relationship is like a modern Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. A simmering frustration emits from both toward the other, one that soon boils over into a silent hatred with hilarious results. Watching as this demented bundle of circuits & malice snap back, shoot sarcasm and even outright dare to insult and question those around her is absolutely fantastic. There’s an unbridled campness to M3GAN, which lies in Johnstone and Cooper’s dedication to the gag, refining their humour until every joke is razor-sharp and cuts straight to the bone. 

There is also substance to be found beneath the humour, as M3GAN comments on the tech replacing traditional parenthood. In fact, I’m sure many parents would initially see M3GAN as the answer to their many woes, only further proving the film’s point. There’s also an intriguing exploration of child exploitation as a key to the growth of industries, especially in how Gemma views Cady as another tool for career advancement. In fact, one of the best things about M3GAN is that Gemma doesn’t really change, even in the film’s final act – it’s more a George Lucas-esque reflection of ‘I might’ve gone too far here’ rather than a saccharine melting of the heart. We need more horror protagonists like Gemma!  

---

---

While it’s not as gore-laden or outright violent as the exploits of Chucky or Benny Loves You, M3GAN’s classic approach of, suggest, don’t show, gives a greater horror to some of its more twisted moments. A stream of increasingly red-tinted water following an almighty jet stream to an old woman’s face gives us a thousand possible images far greater than the BBFC would ever allow on screen. M3GAN doesn’t want to scare you – but it does want to crack you up and creep you out. And it does that in droves.

Undoubtedly one of the best horror comedies since What We Do in the Shadows, M3GAN is far more than the next-generation Chucky. Everything and everyone involved works in tandem to deliver an eye-wateringly hilarious playmate that might just be the next horror icon. 

---

MORE HORROR/COMEDY