Every so often a project that really has no business hitting the zeitgeist somehow becomes catnip for an unexpected audience. This is one of those moments. What you could put this down to could be next level marketing, of course, but I suspect there is more to this than just right place, right time or every movie of one kind or another could expect to be as inviting, hyperbole speaking.
Personally, I was attracted to this by the truly uncanny valley element that the trailer offered (see below). A clearly unreal child, that moves like a real one just makes me equally curious and, well, more than a little bit itchy, like catching sight of a big spider on your bedroom wall out of the corner of your eye as it creeps towards you slowly.
Dolls in cinema (and in real life to be honest) freak me out at the best of times, even the ones allegedly not inhabited by demons or witches or whatever. 'Real but not quite' always has me feeling uncomfortable and I don't think I'm alone. Far from it, given the response to this latest Blumhouse effort, even before most have seen it, who if we're being honest, aren't usually too bad at this type of thing.
When Gemma (Allison Williams) the toy designer takes in her orphaned 8-year-old niece, she isn't really prepared for parenting and in order to entertain her, she suggests bringing home a project from work she thinks may be of interest. Enter M3GAN, the stuff of nightmares yet to come, I shouldn't wonder.
Like most grandiose technological advances committed to film, there is usually a moral message hidden within about the dangers that such advancements promise and this is no different. For all of the benefits offered, this just wouldn't be the same without at least a little peril and soulless menace. Be careful what you wish for should be ringing bells.
Rated to capture the widest possible audience, this could have been a quite different event had M3GAN been allowed to go fully crazy bonkers but this is still well within overt levels of unbridled creepiness, nonetheless. I don't want to ruin the surprises in store but this is maybe more open to interpretation than you might initially imagine with some going so far as to say that the blame for some of the events that take place should perhaps not be laid at the feet you would originally expect.
This is a very engaging, unique and immersive, if relatively unchallenging and simple, story that enjoys great performances and effective pacing, weighing in at just smidge over ninety minutes, rarely having the time to outstay its welcome.
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