Blumhouse Productions’ newest movie “M3GAN” is an over-the-top horror film that will make you burst out laughing while simultaneously causing you to cover your eyes out of fear. Despite the film’s comedic timing and gory depictions, its casting is poor and the plot is underwhelming.
The movie follows Gemma (Allison Willams), a toy engineer working for a company called FUNKI, and her young niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). Following the death of Cady’s parents, Gemma assumes guardianship of Cady. However, Gemma does not want to take a break on developing her new toy and Cady needs emotional support and companionship from a parental figure.
Gemma creates a new toy for FUNKI named M3gan that mimics the appearance and capabilities of a child. Cady and M3gan become very close friends, and M3gan becomes somewhat of a parent to Cady while Gemma focuses on her job. However, M3gan is not all she seems and things go south quickly.
An enjoyable aspect of the film is how the creators referenced other horror movies. In one scene, M3gan rips apart a paper cutter to create a samurai sword and kill someone in an elevator, which is a reference to the movie “Kill Bill,” in which the main character’s signature weapon is a samurai sword. References like this made watching “M3GAN” continually entertaining to watch due to how much inspiration I could see being taken from other films.
This film cleverly plays on the craziness of the plot line by adding humor in tense moments. Having M3gan spontaneously break out into the song “Titanium” by David Guetta when Cady is sobbing about the death of her parents leaves audiences confused and unsure of whether or not they can laugh. This uneasiness is comical and makes them laugh more, creating a more enjoyable experience.
The film has a great shock factor and many scary scenes. When M3gan rips off part of someone’s ear, it not only solidified the film as a true horror movie but also effectively moved the slow plot forward.
Despite the witty humor and gory scenes, some of the actors did not perform very well, making parts hard to watch. Rhonny Chieng who plays David, CEO of FUNKI, gives a lackluster and forced performance that brought the movie down for me.
Additionally, the plot’s pace is off. Cady’s character is not developed before they kill off her parents, leaving the audience with no backstory of Cady and Gemma’s relationship. The ending feels rushed, leaving plot holes such as the unexplained reasoning as to why David’s assistant was stealing company files.
While “M3GAN” may not be for the cult classic horror movie lovers, it provides an entertaining experience with absurdly comical moments. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror movies, but has a good sense of humor and is open to a less traditional, more fresh take on horror.
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