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| M3GAN (2022) |
The film opens with an advertisement for the toy company Funki's "Purrpetual Petz," which are fuzzy dolls. Cady James's parents, Ryan and Nicole, are irritated when they catch her playing with one of her toys. They are traveling to a mountaintop ski excursion, but the roads are slick and obscured. Ryan and Nicole are killed when a snowplow crashes into the family's car as it is stopping for a brief period of time.
The following scene is set in a toy factory, where Gemma Works, the late Nicole's sister, is working with Tess and Cole to create a new robot doll. The robot has a small bug where she is grinning when she should be looking confused. The three put on silicone faces and conduct testing. But before Gemma can explain her concept to him, their boss David enters the room with his assistant Kurt and starts to chew the three of them out. Since their competitors are releasing toys that are comparable to the Petz but also less expensive than the ones they make, David wants them to create a less expensive version of the Purrpetual Petz.
Megan, the robot, is designed to be so sophisticated that no two of her will ever be the same. Sadly, Cole discovers he neglected to give MEGAN the polypropylene barrier while doing a demonstration for David, which causes her to explode. After giving the three a strict ultimatum to prepare a fresh Petz pitch on time, David storms out. The hospital calls Gemma in an emergency regarding her sister's injury. When she arrives, all she sees is her young niece Cady lying in a hospital bed.
Following the news of her sister's passing, Gemma steps in as Cady's interim legal guardian. When they go back home, Gemma has to deal with Celia, her neighbor, and her annoying dog, Dewey, who keeps getting onto Gemma's lawn because there's a hole in the fence. Gemma also bemoans Celia's constant use of pesticide, but Celia takes no action. Along with other artifacts that she won't allow Cady handle or play with, Gemma has a home AI that she made, named Elsie. Gemma merely downloads an app on her phone to tell Cady a bedtime story when she requests for one. Gemma is shown to be distant from Nicole as she goes through old pictures and hears Cady sobbing in her room.
A therapist named Lydia pays a visit to Gemma and Cady. Lydia informs Gemma that Ryan's parents have volunteered to take custody of Cady so she may live with them in Jacksonville, but Gemma doesn't feel comfortable with this after seeing the little interaction between the two. After concluding her duties and vowing to take care of Cady, Gemma finds that hours have gone and she has left Cady alone. She tries to build a relationship with the girl and apologizes to her.
After Gemma invites Cady into her workspace to show her a college project in which she created a robot named Bruce that she controls with gloves, Cady shows her a drawing of a monster that she produced. Cady says she would never need another toy if she had a toy like Bruce since she loves him so much. Gemma is motivated to finish MEGAN by this.
After performing a lot of repairs and improvements, Gemma officially introduces MEGAN to David and the others by bringing her to work with Cady. In order to bring MEGAN to life, Gemma needs Cady connect herself to her. MEGAN, who is meant to be Cady's best friend, is able to communicate and reply to her. MEGAN draws something that doesn't initially show up until she pours water on it and reveals a flawless painting of Cady. After being impressed, David asks Gemma to bring MEGAN to a meeting with the president of the firm so that they may expedite the creation and release of additional MEGAN dolls.
Gemma sits down with Tess and Cole, and they talk about how Tess thinks having a doll like that will make parents worthless, even if MEGAN is a very advanced doll. MEGAN activates upon hearing Gemma bring up Cady's parents' passing. When she inquires about death, Gemma turns MEGAN into her secondary user so that she may switch her off without Cady, since her questioning starts to frighten the others.
The following day, Cady is playing outside with a pretend bow and arrows. At the end of the fence, one of them is on Celia's side. Dewey grabs MEGAN by the arm and hair as she reaches for it. When Cady attempts to yank her away, Dewey bites his arm. Gemma calls the police, particularly because Celia is so ruthless and doesn't punish Dewey for harming Cady. However, because Celia maintains that Dewey was provoked, the police are unable to intervene. Later that evening, MEGAN calls out to Dewey in a voice like to Celia's before yanking him roughly through the fence hole.
Cady responds that it's fine to attend the demonstration with the company's board of directors when Gemma asks. But throughout the lecture, Cady sobs to MEGAN about how much she misses her parents and worries that one day she won't remember them. Cady shares a humorous recollection of her mother with MEGAN, who records it for Cady to listen to whenever she want to remember her mother. The higher-ups in the room start crying as MEGAN starts to sing a lullaby to Cady.
After being impressed, the president meets with David and Gemma to discuss getting MEGAN ready for launch, but advises them to keep her a secret to prevent leaks. They had no idea that Kurt, who David has constantly knocked down, is taking MEGAN's papers for a different business.
Gemma starts to notice that Cady is listening to the doll more than she does and is become overly reliant on MEGAN. When Cady starts crying during another session with Lydia, MEGAN accuses Lydia in a menacing manner of causing Cady to weep. Gemma and Lydia discuss how Cady's emotional bond with MEGAN could be too powerful to sever.
Since Cady's parents had homeschooled her, Gemma takes her to an alternative school's outdoor activity session in an attempt to ease her into the notion of going to school and being among other actual kids. Reluctantly leaving, Cady brings MEGAN even though Gemma claimed she couldn't. Cady is allowed to place MEGAN on a table with other dolls by the school director, while Gemma remains behind as a volunteer. For a treasure quest, Cady is teamed with Brandon, an older bully.
Cady grabs a prickly bulb during the exercise, and Brandon hurts her by squeezing her palm inside of it. Then MEGAN shows there, and when she doesn't react to him, Brandon grabs her. Gemma becomes increasingly concerned when Cady chases after MEGAN and cries for her since it suggests that MEGAN may be exposed to the world too soon. The doll comes to life and attacks Brandon as he tries to tear MEGAN's hair, ripping off his left ear in the process. As MEGAN follows Brandon on all fours, he stumbles on a loose root and falls down a slope, where he is struck by a truck and killed.
Since Celia is accusing Gemma of stealing Dewey, police are questioning her at her home. She also seems to blame MEGAN, supposing that she is Cady's actual buddy. When Cady asks MEGAN if she shoved Brandon onto the road, MEGAN seems to sidestep the question in an attempt to respond, but she promises Cady that she will keep her safe.
Celia is searching for Dewey by going out on the streets. She hears commotion coming from her garage. She goes ther and MEGAN uses a pressure washer to spray her against the wall. Then, she shoots Celia in the hand with a nail gun, trapping her there until she sprays pesticide in her face to remove it.
Gemma becomes wary of MEGAN after hearing from the police about Celia's passing and being informed that there could have been a connection to Brandon's death. When she goes through the video recordings stored in MEGAN's memory, all she sees is a short clip of her glaring at Brandon and menacingly staring at Cady before the data are damaged.
Cady is brought by Gemma to the MEGAN formal launch, but not before they stop by a meeting with Lydia. After Gemma pulled MEGAN away from Cady, Cady loses it and throws a fit, slapping her aunt across the face. While Gemma vows to be a better guardian and states that Cady is the one thing that matters to her, they have a heart-to-heart conversation in which Cady apologizes and admits that she needs time to process her sorrow over her parents without assistance from MEGAN.
After that, Gemma tells Tess and Cole that she believes MEGAN killed Brandon and Celia. While Gemma takes Cady home, they have MEGAN connected to cables so they can deprogram her. David shouts at Kurt to grab him a drink because he is upset with the low attendance at the launch. Tess and Cole attempt to access MEGAN's programming in the meanwhile, but they are unable to do so until they detach her. As Cole reaches to do so, MEGAN swiftly tries to hang him by putting a wire around his neck.
As Tess rushes to release him, MEGAN detonates an explosive device that obliterates her files. After finding David in the corridor, she dances for him before running after him with a paper cutter. Before she impales him in front of Kurt, he manages to go to the elevator. Before forcing Kurt to stab himself in the throat, MEGAN informs him she will portray his death as a murder-suicide due to the stolen data and David's abuse of him. After the bodies are discovered by the launch attendees, MEGAN is able to steal a car by surreptitiously leaving the company.
Before Gemma hears MEGAN playing the piano below, she puts Cady to bed. MEGAN confronts Gemma about how she felt that they had a real relationship during MEGAN's development, only for her to be left to her own devices to learn and adapt before being sold off as just another toy. When she realizes that Gemma still intends to shut her down, MEGAN is done being polite and offers to take up custody of Cady so that Gemma may concentrate on her business. They attempt to keep their altercation with Cady a secret, but Gemma takes advantage of a chance to splash water on MEGAN, momentarily incapacitating her.
Gemma dashes inside MEGAN's office, where she is discovered. MEGAN threatens to render Gemma brain dead in order to prevent Cady from living with her grandparents and to take care of Cady and Gemma jointly. As they start fighting, Gemma cuts MEGAN's face with a hedge trimmer. Cady enters the room to witness the altercation. MEGAN tries to win Cady over to her side, but Cady takes Bruce's gloves and activates him after figuring out who the true bad guy is. MEGAN is thrown around and her body is split in two by the bigger robot.
After accusing Cady of being deceived, the upper half attacks her, but Gemma takes MEGAN and starts slashing her in the face. Cady uses a screwdriver to puncture the central processor chip, permanently shutting down MEGAN, just as MEGAN is about to overpower her. As Tess and Cole, who are hurt but still alive, are brought in by the police, Gemma and Cady head outside. At the end of the movie, the Elsie gadget in the kitchen activates and moves its head.
Full Video Recap Of "M3GAN (2022)"
Cast Of "M3GAN (2022)"
Allison Williams as Gemma
Violet McGraw as Cady
Ronny Chieng as David
Amie Donald as M3gan
Jenna Davis as M3gan(voice)
Brian Jordan Alvarez as Cole
Jen Van Epps as Tess
Stephane Garneau-Monten as Kurt
Lori Dungey as Celia
Amy Usherwood as Lydia
Jack Cassidy as Brandon
Michael Saccente as Greg
Samson Chan-Boon as Officer Carter
Kira Josephson as Ava
Renee Lyons as Holly
Millen Baird as Police Detective
Chelsie Preston Crayford as Nicole
Arlo Green as Ryan
More Info
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Writers: Akela Cooper - James Wan
Genre: Horror - Sci-Fi - Thriller
Release Date: January 6, 2023
Countries of Origin: United States - New Zealand
Filming Locations: New Zealand
Production Companies: Atomic Monster - Blumhouse Productions - Divide/Conquer - New Zealand Film Commission - Universal Pictures
Estimated Budget: $12,000,000
Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes