31 Days of Halloween: M3GAN

2022, Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) -- Amazon

Oh! We like his previous movie! And TBH it kind of vibes with how this movie was presented, as in an entirely trope driven AI horror movie where you cannot help but laugh at the ludicrous situations the movie leads us through, even though they are played entirely seriously. As Kent said, there is a very clear, very telegraphed plot progression here, but it is skillfully done. Still weirded out Kent saw it, and liked it.

Cady (Violet McGraw, Black Widow) is in the backseat of her parents car as they complain about her obsession with a Furby-analog toy called a PurrPetual Pet(z). And then they die by snowplow. She goes to live with her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams, Get Out), a roboticist with zero work-life balance and the inventor of the PurrPetual Petz. Gemma has been somewhat secretly working on a lifelike android she calls M3GAN  (Murderous Model 3 Generative Android) which is meant to be a child's best friend & companion. Gemma is caught between doing what she wants to do (complete M3GAN) and two things she doesn't want to do -- bond with Cady, and come up with the sequel to PurrPetual Petz. So, she "pairs" Cady with the newly awakened M3GAN (Amie Donald/Jenna Davis).

And she immediately goes on a Terminator-like killing spree.

OK, maybe not; that's my headcanon because I really really want to watch this movie from an "emerging AI" perspective, but its not That Movie. This movie is purely written for the AI For Dummies crowd that assumes every "smart device" has the potential to become a killing machine.

But again, somehow, skillfully, Johnstone is able to make a fun movie while entirely telegraphing all the things these movies, and leave it at that level.

Of course, the beta test of M3GAN goes swimmingly, with the doll connecting with the girl, even going beyond "her base programming" to comfort and protect the girl. That is, until Gemma tries to limit some of its behaviour. "You Ain't the Boss of Me!" yells M3GAN. "Actually I am YOUR MAKER !!" yells Gemma. Not really, but you get the point.

Eventually the doll (I tired quickly of the all caps spelling) kills to protect Cady and Gemma starts catching on. But not once does she utter a, "holy shit, my smart doll is becoming self-aware." I did have to remind myself it was not That Movie. This is basically Chucky but in creepy Uncanny Valley doll format, instead of evil spirit inhabiting doll format. As the doll becomes Moar Evil, Gemma establishes a real, genuine affection for Cady, becoming her true protector, even from herself until eventually she has to fight off the murderous little fake-girl.

When I wrote about The Artifice Girl I commented how trailers for both movies came out around the same time, and I assumed that both movies would be about Fake Little Girls killing people. The other movie really, truly was That Movie, in that it was about the emergence of self-aware AI, but wrapped up in the depiction of a little girl, and went beyond embracing the creepiness, in that it was directly about the creep factor. I was actually really surprised they pretty much bypassed the creep factor in this movie, as in entirely ignore the possibility. Other than the "buy too big for his age" stealing M3GAN, only to be murdered by her, there was never even a possibility of someone being... icky with her. This movie was meant for a certain Horror Entry Level audience and didn't want to wrestle with any Big Ideas. And yet, it still satisfied.