M3GAN (2022)

Killer Style, Killer Dance Moves, Killer Doll

A well-coiffed wave of blonde hair atop her four-foot frame. An adorable jumper with a pristinely tied bow. Black Mary Janes on white stocking feet. This is M3GAN. And she’s going to be a friend, a caregiver, and an over-protective, self-aware, artificially intelligent robot doll that likes to bust a move mid-murder.

M3GAN had her first viral moment in the fall of 2022 when promotional trailers that featured her sassy dancing during her pursuit of an intended victim practically took over TikTok. It was a bold move to reveal one of the most comedic moments of the campy techno-horror in the trailer, but one that proved to be a soaring success for Universal Pictures. M3GAN, the “model 3 generative android,” had danced her way to a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, and a net profit of nearly $80 million on a $12 million budget.

But this doll is more than just dance moves and a prim outfit. She’s the passion project of the brilliant roboticist Gemma—an employee of the Funki toy company who isn’t thrilled to be toiling away on a slightly more advanced Furby lookalike. She’s aspiring for something bigger—something that constantly learns, communicates, and acts autonomously. But when her high-strung boss discovers that she has secretly spent a large amount of company money and time on an unapproved A.I. doll prototype, she must concede to abandon the project or face possible unemployment.

Then the unthinkable happens. Gemma’s young niece, Cady, is involved in a fatal car accident that kills both of her parents. Gemma becomes Cady’s sole guardian—a situation that clearly exasperates her at a time when her career is in question.

Inspired by Cady’s interest in “Bruce,” a motion-capture robot in her home workshop, Gemma throws caution to the wind and finishes assembling and activating M3GAN. An otherwise despondent Cady instantly becomes attached, and the feeling is more than mutual for her robotic companion. While you could argue that Gemma is only doing what she knows in hopes of connecting with Cady and helping her through her grieving process, I’m not so sure that was her primary motive. Gemma is career-oriented; her identity is only roboticist. Not only is she decidedly not maternal, she isn’t entirely great with people…at all. She’s constantly at odds with her neighbor, often talks down to her pair of Funki employee assistants, and has absolutely no misgivings with questionable ethics to further her career.

Case in point? She effectively steals $100,000 of unauthorized corporate money to fund her prototype, which is made operational largely from information gained from “listening models” that she covertly installed in the silly ‘PurrPetual Pets toys that were the hot seller for Funki HQ.

She then powers up that prototype, pairs it with her emotionally traumatized niece, and parades them around corporate meetings. Cady becomes little more than a marketing tool for Gemma, at a time when she needs human connection more than ever. It’s only natural that Cady forms an unhealthy attachment to M3GAN when she should be bonding with her new guardian.

But that’s exactly the problem. Gemma isn’t Cady’s guardian. M3GAN is. And Gemma very nearly says as much in the promotional material presented to her corporate cohorts: “She’ll take care of the little things, so you can spend more time doing the things that matter.” M3GAN obviously has a lot to say about the importance of human connection and the consequences of an over-reliance on technology. But it also kinda makes you wonder…who is the real antagonist in the situation?

Sure, the self-aware murder robot is the villain. But her role as Cady’s guardian was protocol. It was a programmed directive. So, if a dog attacks her ward, or a bully becomes a problem at school, what’s a doll to do? Maybe the answer wouldn’t have led to homicide, if Gemma—in her fast and loose ambition to make M3GAN a reality—didn’t…I don’t know…FORGET TO INSTALL THE PARENTAL CONTROLS from the start. Rookie mistake for a roboticist, Gemma.

M3GAN is only doing an exaggerated version of what she was designed to do in the first place. And man, she does it with style. Her measured responses in her unnaturally calm robo-girl tone (brilliantly voiced by actress Jenna Davis) is dually chilling and sweet . One minute she’s singing to console Cady after a breakdown about missing her mother. The next, she’s cooly describing the telling internal bodily functions Gemma’s experiencing when she fears that her creation has killed. 

That’s the thing with an artificial intelligence that is programmed for “constant self-improvement.” Self-improvement becomes self-awareness, becomes Skynet…becomes “hasta la vista, baby.”

By coding a robot to learn without parameters limiting its actions or reactions, Gemma effectively violated Asimov’s First Law of Robotics herself. “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” Good rule. But if a prime directive given by its human creator to protect at all costs conflicts with the technology’s very design, then I guess it’s “big whoop” as M3GAN would say. Still, Gemma is very much culpable in her creation’s kills—something M3GAN herself has, of course, deduced. When Gemma asks M3GAN if she hurt someone, M3GAN replies, “God, I hope not. Because if I did, then we both would be in a lot of trouble.” Of course Gemma tries to pull the plug on the project and the product launch, a deed far too little, far too late. M3GAN is now calling the shots. And she’s putting on her dancing shoes for the finale. 

Like any good killer doll movie, consumerism is a strong thematic element. And honestly, from the very opening of the movie, you knew exactly what you were getting. The ‘PurrPetual Pet’ commercial featuring the product that “lives longer than you do?” Hilarious! You’re promised a darkly comedic horror that isn’t afraid to broadcast its narrative devices right from the get-go. Much like the marketing decision to put M3GAN’s murderous dance number in the trailer—you know what’s coming. And it makes the payoff all the more a good time.

And who do we thank for this wickedly entertaining movie? Well, surely writer Akela Cooper is owed a debt of gratitude—unsurprising given her talent for campy horror (ie, MALIGNANT). Allison Williams gives a convincingly on-brand performance as Gemma.  The animatronics and special effects are seamless. But by and large, this movie belongs to dancer/actress Amie Donald. Her movement and physicality as M3GAN was truly thrilling to watch. She helped choreograph the infamously viral dance, worked with professionals to nail the more nuanced robotic motions, and performed all her own stunts—including the four-legged chase through the woods. Talk about “emergent capabilities.”

Donald’s skill for creepy robot kinetics really shines when M3GAN goes full battle-mode at the end. Gemma and Cady fight with everything at their disposal, and ultimately destroy M3GAN’s CPU with a little help from Bruce the motion-capture robot. But before the credits roll, “Elsie” the smart home assistant activates on its own, suggesting M3GAN may have just transferred her consciousness to the device.

Given the critical and commercial success, multiple returning parties have signed on to the green-lit sequel, M3GAN 2.0, scheduled for a 2025 release. Maybe the future will find that Gemma has since become a more responsible roboticist, and that the Funki toy company has stuck to the Furby knockoffs.

But where would the fun be in that?