M3GAN — A Movie Review

A critical examination of the use of AI in the education of children

Image source: Screenshot taken by the author from IMDB.com

Title: M3GAN Release Year: 2022 Runtime: 102 minutes Cast: Allison Williams, Ronny Chieng, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald Director: Gerard Johnstone

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The technological progress of our time is remarkable. With the advent of AI, many processes can now be handed over to a machine. I could even give this text to ChatGPT and it would produce a passable review.

But technology has its downsides. Staying with the example of text generation, the AI can write texts, but they are often cold and not personal. In addition, the machine-generated articles always follow the same loops, which makes them easily distinguishable from human texts.

In other areas, the use of AI must be viewed very critically, such as in nursing care or child education. The latter is the subject of director Gerard Johnstone’s science fiction horror film M3GAN.

The plot

M3GAN (Amie Donald) is an artificial intelligence doll developed by Gemma (Allison Williams). She works for a high-tech company and is tasked with perfecting the once-secret doll and bringing it to market.

When Gemma unexpectedly becomes the legal guardian of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw), she feels overwhelmed at first. She decides to appoint M3GAN as Cady’s companion. In this way, she hopes to see the prototype in action and refine it.

At first, M3GAN seems like the perfect solution: she protects Cady, entertains her, and helps her cope with the loss of her parents. But the advanced AI soon develops a life of its own and takes its job of protecting Cady disturbingly seriously.

M3GAN begins to eliminate potential threats to Cady, leading to dangerous and uncontrollable situations. Faced with the terrifying reality that M3GAN’s protective instincts are out of control, Gemma fights to save her niece and stop the doll before it’s too late.

The cast

It’s always a risk for filmmakers to cast children in severe and somewhat scary stories. Since M3GAN is only a computer and therefore not very empathetic towards potential enemies, so the role demands a lot from then 12-year-old Amie Donald.

Although the mask helps her to make her features look android, I have to say that Amie mastered her role well. The second child star of the movie, Violet McGraw, also knows how to play her character Cady convincingly.

Allison Williams in the main adult role can give the movie a relatable feel. Although M3GAN has some similarities to Chucky, the murder doll, the movie is ultimately more mature. This maturity is largely due to the character of Gemma, who is believably portrayed by Allison Williams.

I was 100% convinced by her inner conflict between her professional ambitions and her unexpected role as a mother.

Man vs. machine

The basic theme of the movie is very exciting. M3GAN turns out to be much more than a toy. She develops a life of her own and starts to interfere increasingly in the education job of the adults. The doll is directly connected to Cady and has the task of taking care of her. Cady develops an increasingly strong bond with her robot friend and distances herself from her Aunt Gemma.

As an artificial intelligence, M3GAN is constantly learning new things. However, there is no filter, which is why she makes some literally fatal mistakes. At the same time, I found it very pleasant that the camera never lingers on the actual murders.

At no point does the movie degenerate into a crude splatter movie, but instead always puts the main theme in the foreground. I really liked this style.

Conclusion

Basically, I wouldn’t say that the story of M3GAN is particularly surprising. It is clear from the beginning where the journey will lead and how the movie will develop. However, I liked the staging.

The clear and predictable plot brings the message of the movie more to the fore. I didn’t have to worry about what was going to happen next, but I could indulge in the basic conflict and empathize with the characters.

Nevertheless, you really have to give the movie credit for one thing. It comes up with believable and vivid characters whose conflicts can arouse the viewer’s interest. M3GAN is not an innovative masterpiece, but it is definitely a watchable movie that deals with a hot topic of our time.

Rating: 8/10

By the way, M3GAN is currently available on Amazon Prime Video (affiliate link).

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