Shadows on the Wall

M3gan

dir Gerard Johnstone
scr Akela Cooper
prd Jason Blum, James Wan, Michael Clear, Couper Samuelson
with Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Stephane Garneau-Monten, Lori Dungey, Amy Usherwood, Jack Cassidy, Michael Saccente
release US 6.Jan.23,
UK 13.Jan.23
23/US Universal 1h42

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By leaning directly into the camp sensibilities of a murderous doll premise, director Gerard Johnstone creates a superbly entertaining horror romp. Although while there are some truly nasty moments along the way, the movie is never particularly scary, relying instead on playful camerawork that heavily hints at each bit of coming mayhem. This is particularly effective at generating a gleefully expectant tone that keeps the audience laughing.

In Seattle, robotic expert Gemma (Williams) and her assistants Cole and Tess (Alvarez and Van Epps) have exasperated their boss (Chieng) by developing a pricey artificially intelligent doll companion rather than working on a cheaper version of the company's successful virtual pet toy. Then after a car crash, Gemma becomes guardian to her orphaned 9-year-old niece Cady (McGraw), and decides this new doll might help Cady with her grief. The finished prototype is named M3gan (played by McDonald, with Davis' voice), and proves to be a very quick learner. It's also extremely protective of Cady.

Cleverly, the story plays out as a light drama with deeper emotional undercurrents, so M3gan's presence feels almost absurdly ridiculous. Her passively aggressive gazes are hilarious, as a flicker of a facial expression hints at what she might get up to next. Her visual presence is also sharply rendered, with her never-quite-human physicality sitting amusingly askance alongside her over-expressive eyes. All of which essentially makes her a cross between the Terminator and Chucky, and references to both franchises are everywhere.

Anchoring the film, Williams brings her wry presence to an oddly undefined role, bringing out Gemma's grief over her sister's death in subtext between the script's lines. And Gemma's loner lifestyle allows for some offbeat humour as she assumes a parental role with Cady. McGraw has a much beefier role as an observant, wounded young girl. She beautifully plays Cady's haunted, wrenching emotions, confusion about her radically changed future and desire to cling to the loyalty of this new electronic best friend.

Along with the adept effects team, Donald and Davis bring M3gan wonderfully to life, infusing her with a deranged charm that's both creepy and engaging. So it doesn't matter that the movie hedges its bets by averting eyes from the violence, skipping around dark emotions or relying on virtually all of the usual stalker-horror tropes. This basically eliminates even a hint of suspense. But it's also irrelevant whether the raucous comical vibe is intentional or not when a movie is this much fun to watch.

themes, language, violence 10.Jan.23

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