M3GAN (2022)

M3GAN is the rare horror movie that understands the best scares come with a grin, delivering a sleek, PG-13 jolt that’s as wickedly funny as it is unnerving. Gerard Johnstone stages the mayhem with a bright, pop-modern sheen, letting the film’s sharp screenplay poke at our faith in “smart” tech and outsourced parenting while still landing real, crowd-pleasing thrills. Allison Williams and young Violet McGraw ground the story in believable emotion, which makes M3GAN’s too-perfect companionship feel both seductive and deeply wrong. If you want hardcore gore or grim misery, this isn’t that kind of nightmare—but if you’re in the mood for a campy, witty ride that knows exactly how to entertain, it’s a blast.

M3GAN is clearly aiming to be a crowd-pleasing “killer doll” thriller with a modern AI twist, mixing scares with a wink at how we outsource parenting to tech. The problem is it often feels like a greatest-hits playlist of better horror and sci-fi ideas, and the PG-13 approach keeps the nastier moments at arm’s length, so the danger can feel a bit tamed and predictable. If you want genuinely unsettling, boundary-pushing horror or a deep, original exploration of AI, this probably won’t satisfy. But if you’re in the mood for a slick, fast, darkly funny ride with a memorable central performance and some solid tension, it’s an easy weekend watch.