This review contains spoilers. 

This film deals with grief and its repercussions; when eight-year-old Cady faces the sudden loss of both her parents, she develops depression. Gemma, a roboticist at a Seattle toy company, is now burdened with the responsibility of taking care of her young niece. Gemma creates M3GAN, a realistic doll with artificial intelligence, to be Cady’s best friend. 

M3GAN, or Model 3 Generative Android, is born out of Gemma’s desperate desire to help Cady and find a way to emotionally connect with her. However, doing so only creates more problems for Gemma and her loved ones. As the bond between Cady and M3GAN grows, the robot warps into a murderous, revenge-seeking android who becomes extremely possessive of the young girl.  

“Don’t worry, Cady. I won’t let anything harm you ever again,” says M3GAN unnervingly at one point in the film. Although the movie is supposed to be from the horror and thriller genre, it failed to deliver the terrifying scenes that I hoped to see; viewers may find themselves laughing or cringing while watching the movie. Moments such as M3GAN doing TikTok dances in a hallway before killing someone take away from the movie’s horror component.  

The plot of this film was also extremely predictable; after just watching the trailer, anyone could predict that M3GAN would become a failed prototype that would try to kill people in order to “protect” Cady. Therefore, I feel that the film did not do justice to the thriller genre, either. However, it includes a touch of fear and humor, and young actress Amie Donald acting as a robot is captivating and realistic.  

“M3GAN” is an accurate remark on our reliance on technology at its core. It follows the killer doll theme, as seen with “Annabelle” and “Chucky,” but adds a touch of reality and futuristic drama by portraying these dolls are robots. Even if the film fails to deliver thrills and chills, it is a fun watch. It gets 2.5 out of five crabs!