With the constant advancement of technology, it’s no surprise that the AI-turns-evil trope would play out once again, this time in the form of Model 3 Generative Android, or M3GAN. But has this new horror flick changed the scope of doll-horror or is the subgenre just simply being hammered down too thin?

 

The premise focuses on toy roboticist Gemma who rebuilds an old project for her newly-orphaned niece, Cady. However, as the bond between robot and girl strengthens, so too M3gan’s encoded desire to protect her. All this quickly builds into two hours of borderline musical theatre and murder, with M3gan crawling and cartwheeling her way to her victims. The basic outline of the plot itself is definitely something seen before in the horror scene, yet the subtle lean-ins to the comedy genre almost poke fun at itself, a refreshing take on a genre that finds films mirroring others all too often.

 

One member of the audience highlighted this comedy element, stating: ‘It left me feeling less scared than I thought it would, as the humorous elements helped alleviate the tension’. And this is certainly true, with the multitude of cliches in horror, from elevator-muder to an eerie piano solo, being broken up with a sudden autotuned rendition of ‘Titanium’ (very fitting considering she’s primarily made of the metal), it made for the film to be a pleasant balance of two starkly different genres.

 

With the movie primarily being marketed through social media platforms such as TikTok, it’s no wonder that the film would gain such traction among the younger generation. Promotions ranged from adverts previewing M3gan’s out-of-character dance number to having actors walk around in New York in blonde-ombre wigs and silk scarves. All this cleverly planned marketing undoubtedly pleased its target audience, with around half of its viewers being under-25 on its opening weekend, and even leading it to be one of the higher-grossing films among other January competitors - an outstanding feat for any low-budget film.

 

So although the film might not necessarily make the Oscars next year, it still presents itself as a unique twist on the more conventional horror genre, and something to definitely watch with friends.