Is M3gan Your New Friend Till the End? • Horror Facts

We at Horror Facts recently sent out a tweet to our amazing followers, asking them to weigh in and vote on whether or not they plan to watch M3gan when it is released in theaters on January 6, 2023.

Our audience has spoken, and 55.7% of those who voted stated that they definitely intend to watch M3gan when it premieres in theaters on January 6th.

Due to the fact that you answered with a “Yes,” we here at Horror Facts have made the executive decision to do as you have suggested and have gone to watch M3gan at our nearest Cineplex.

The narrative of M3gan focuses on Cady, a young girl who, following the untimely passing of both of her parents, is assigned to live with her aunt Gemma, who works as a robotics engineer for Funki Toy Company.

In addition to being tasked with developing a cheaper model of one of their toy lines, Gemma is also working covertly on developing an artificially intelligent doll that can move, talk, and even think on its own. This doll will be able to think for itself and will be able to move, talk, and even think on its own. In addition, unlike any other doll that has come before it, this one is intelligent and can pick up new skills.

After the initial trial failed miserably, Gemma decided to throw caution to the wind and put on a show for her manager, using Cady as the subject of the experiment. She forms a bond between M3gan and Cady, thereby establishing Cady as the primary user of the doll.

After a successful second attempt, Gemma’s boss plans on showcasing her invention to the board for approval.

In the meantime, Cady’s bond with M3gan continues to grow, but it isn’t long until Cady starts to develop an unhealthy attachment to M3gan and vice versa.

As the doll is designed to help teach and raise the child they bond with, Cady begins to see the doll as her primary caretaker. And the doll soon starts to accept that role a little too seriously, with M3gan disposing of anyone who hurts Cady or who poses a threat to their relationship in any way.

After a series of deaths occur, Gemma starts to suspect that M3gan might be behind the recent murders.

Will M3gan allow Gemma to interfere with its relationship with Cady? Or will M3gan have to dispose of her just like the rest?

The plot of M3gan starts as a PG-13 retelling of the most recent Child’s Play (2019), with just some minor variations in the story and with the final message being more about the unhealthy attachments we tend to develop with inanimate objects.

Similar to that movie, M3gan focuses on an artificially intelligent doll that develops an unhealthy attachment with its owner and kills anybody who hurts them or potentially gets in the way of their relationship.

Where the movies differ is, unlike Chucky, M3gan appears to be a demented terminator, as this animatronic doll is capable of twisting its body into unnatural positions and is strong enough to rip someone’s ear clean off their head.  M3gan also appears to be made out of the same titanium alloy as the T-800. I guess that’s why she sings Titanium at one point in the movie.

Also, unlike Chucky, who would revel in his kills, M3gan appears to kill as a means to an end. The doll is more obsessed with her relationship with Cady and is willing to do whatever it takes to maintain it. 

Another way this movie differentiates itself from Child’s Play is in the level of violence throughout the film. Where Child’s Play owns its R rating, M3gan prefers to show as little as possible, even having some of the deaths occur off-screen or cutting to another scene right before the killing blow.

The film, although marketed as a killer doll film, is more about the unhealthy attachments we have to the things in our life. When the doll is taken away from Cady, she acts out and begins to experience all the stages of grief. This is likely because, rather than grieve for her parents, Cady uses the doll to replace them.

M3gan feels like more of a social commentary on how many kids/teens have become so obsessed with electronics that their lives revolve around them. The same can be said about parents, who would sooner allow their children to be raised by the internet than to have to parent them themselves.  

Horror is a great medium to showcase stories with an underlying message and M3gan makes use of this. The doll is just used to add some level of horror because there would be nothing scary about a kid that loves their toys.

M3gan is an interesting concept but, unfortunately for it, many viewers will likely draw comparisons to the killer doll movies that have come before it. Because of this, M3gan feels like a movie that could make an impact in the horror community but won’t be able to stand up to the test of time.

It appears unlikely that M3gan will enter the ranks of Chucky or Annabelle and will, instead, be forgotten after a year.

I have come here to chew bubblegum and write horror, and I’m all out of bubblegum.

Senior Editor at Horror Facts