M3gan, Horror Training Wheels, & Unresolved Trauma//October 276th, 2023

 I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I finally got around to watching the movie M3gan.

Now, as you can probably tell from my intense hatred of AHS Death Valley, I am not a person who enjoys the blending of sci-fi with horror. I understand that the two genres can be adjacent, but I rarely like the outcome of mixing the two things. However, as someone who used to avidly collect dolls, and also grew up during what was probably the initial big uprising of interactive toys, M3gan spoke to me. 

Honestly, there’s not much I can really say about the plot of the movie that the trailer doesn’t get into. A young girl, Cady, (I have to ask, what is with this spelling of my name in the media? I’ve never met a “Cady” in reality yet it seems like “Katie” is just too basic to use for a fictional character these days. Is it meant to be short for Cadence, or something? Or are you less likely to be asked if it's short for something if it's spelled this way?) is involved in a car accident that kills both her parents. Cady is taken in by her Aunt Gemma, who happens to work for a toy company with a flair for AI. Cady’s presence inspires Gemma to work harder on her secret pet project, a life size android girl called “M3gan”. M3gan becomes Cady’s constant companion and confidante, while relieving the workaholic Gemma of the burden of caring for Cady, who she definitely seems unsure of having custody of, but soon M3gan starts questioning her existence, as well as taking her role of Cady’s caregiver and support system a little too seriously, and becomes murderous. It’s truly nothing that hasn’t been done before, but yet, it works. 

For one thing, M3gan is a great “horror training wheels” type movie. I actually watched the unrated version and it was honestly pretty tame as far as horror goes. Anything that could be considered “gore” came off as more cartoony to me, and I would imagine the theatrical cut is probably only a little more intense than an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? or Goosebumps. I'm not saying it's suitable for small children, but if you've got a preteen around with a budding interest in spooky stuff, this movie would probably be a good one to start off with once they've graduated from stuff actually aimed at kids, provided they don't have a fear of dolls or anything like that. It's definitely lighter fare than Child's Play or Annabelle. 

The other thing I really want to talk about is that I actually think this movie did a pretty excellent job portraying the effects of unresolved trauma. We watch Cady, unable to really connect with anyone, including her aunt, when her parents die, bond with M3gan, who, while intelligent and caring, should not be interchangeable with an actual living person, especially while dealing with such tremendous grief. Their bond becomes more and more toxic as Cady's dependence on M3gan increases and almost begins to mirror an addiction, and also as M3gan's devotion to her only known purpose in "life" starts to become deadly. There's a pivotal moment where, upon listening to Cady break down about her parents to M3gan, Gemma realizes that she should have been there for her niece more and that it's unhealthy for her only source of companionship and comfort to be this robotic doll. And, as Gemma starts to realize more what M3gan is doing, Cady does not handle being separated from her AI friend well at all, nearly stabbing her psychologist and admitting to Gemma how crazy she gets without M3gan, making a real statement about addiction and unhealthy coping mechanisms. It really makes you think about not having your needs met, especially during a traumatic time, can do to a person 

I will say, at the point where Cady nearly stabs the doctor, I was sort of hoping for a plot twist where it turned out Cady was actually violent and that's where M3gan was learning it. I mean, obviously it's normal for a child to lash out after dealing with such a tragedy but, Cady seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem going on even in the opening scene. For as decent of a movie as this is, it could have crossed the barrier into great if they'd decided to do something a little different and throw an unexpected twist in there. 

As I said previously, there's very little here that any "AI gone wrong" story hasn't already done. It's just presented in a way that makes it a fun watch and a possible good starting point for a younger, budding horror fan. Don't go into it expecting to be terrified or really disturbed in any way. (Unless of course you're scared of dolls.) Just enjoy it for what it is, because it's pretty fun. And if you're a 90s kid like me, you may end up questioning your Furby's intentions by the time the movie is over.

I'm also wondering who's gonna be stupid enough to resurrect this AI monster for the sequel. Will it be Gemma, in desperate need of money to keep Cady? Cady herself, having grown a little more tech savvy from living with her aunt and thinking she can help her "friend"? Someone at the company still trying to cash in? Another AI being? It will be fun to see!

Stay spooky, my friends.