Blumhouse’s newest horror film M3GAN has already gained immediate critical acclaim. Currently sitting at an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie also has the titular android perform a TikTok dance that’s gone viral.
We Were Having a Conversation
The movie is a sci-fi twist on the Child’s Play concept: a toy is given to a child to make them feel less lonely, but it has a mind of its own. The film’s protagonist is actually Cady’s aunt Gemma, played by Alison Williams from Get Out. In this film, Megan gains sentience and wants to protect 8-year-old Cady. However, Megan has her own ideas of what represents a threat to her new friend and takes drastic measures to keep her safe.
Many of the trailers feature her chasing down bullies, attacking engineers, and even disobeying commands to shut herself down. Everything down to telling Cady to eat vegetables is seen as something to attack by the rogue machine.
The film is actually slated for a full theatrical release on January 6th, but the rave reviews are coming from the people allowed to attend advance screenings. Given that Avatar: The Way of Water has already reached an amazing $1.4 billion in the global box office, people are wondering if M3GAN can take over its spot as the newest big movie in cinemas. Tons of new movies and shows will be coming to streaming services like Netflix throughout this year, bringing lots of competition for viewers’ attention. Judging by the reviews, and the film apparently being self-aware enough to both have a good time and horrify audiences with its concept, it will definitely stand out as one of 2023’s most memorable flicks.
The Key to Megan’s Creepiness
The android is played by two actresses: Amie Donald and Jenna Davis. Davis is the voice behind Megan, while Donald is the body. What makes Megan as a character stand out is both the slightly forced voice and the uncanny body language. Even the trailer shows this – Megan mostly moves and speaks like a regular person, and a lot of the time other characters might not even catch on. The audience, on the other hand, will instantly feel uneasy even during regular conversations with Megan.
Mastery of Tone
The tone that director James Wan and producer Jason Blum went for is similar to Paranormal Activity 3, in that it uses humor to relax the audience before reminding them they’re watching a horror movie. The more calm and loose viewers are in regular moments, the scarier tense scenes and unusual instances feel to them.
We have yet to see how audiences feel about the film, as it hasn’t been released yet. But the critics across Twitter and on the Rotten Tomatoes website itself have praised the movie specifically for its balance of comedy and horror, as well as its ability to make the character go viral through TikTok, as its main selling points.