The trailer for M3GAN, the new horror film from screenwriter Akela Cooper, has finally arrived. Roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams) has recently become the caretaker of her 8-year-old niece Cady (Violet McGraw), whose parents are apparently killed in a car accident based on the trailer. Gemma is determined to do everything she can to make her niece feel at home.
The problems came on two fronts. Gemma feels totally unprepared for parenthood. In the trailer, she’s seen that she doesn’t even take care of her own plants. She also felt pressure at work and designed this lifelike doll called M3GAN, intended to be both a child’s best companion and a parent’s best ally.
M3GAN can listen, watch and learn as she becomes the friend, teacher, playmate and protector of the child she has a bond with. She is meant to be the perfect toy that would protect a child from ever feeling lonely or sad. Perhaps needless to say that all the murderous eruptions were not part of the design parameters.
One day, Gemma decides to solve both problems by pairing her current prototype with Cady. At first things seem good. They play, dance, high-five and “build emotional connections that are too hard to untangle.” At one point, Gemma even says that M3GAN is now part of the family.
What could go wrong?
Things take a turn for the worse when Gemma tries to get Cady to eat her vegetable pizza toppings, and M3GAN says research shows that forcing a child to eat healthier makes them less likely to choose that food as an adult. Gemma responds by turning off Android, which M3GAN doesn’t seem to like. She is later shown telling Gemma, “I thought we were talking,” in a noticeably angry voice.
Then we see the toy takes its goal of protecting Katie from physical and emotional harm a little too seriously. “I won’t let you do anything,” she says after seemingly pushing a bully in front of a moving car. M3GAN is also shown going after people in this unnatural way that will surely remind horror fans of Gabriel (Ray Chase, Marina Mazepa) of maliciousalso wrote the James Wan horror film Cooper.
Wan will also serve as producer on the film alongside Jason Blum. Besides the fact that they came up with the story together with Cooper. The executive producers on M3GAN are Allison Williams, Mark Katchur, Ryan Turek, Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath. Blumhouse will present the Atomic Monster production alongside Universal Pictures and in partnership with Divide/Conquer.
M3GAN comes out January 13, 2023, in theaters only. The supporting cast includes Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Brian Jordan Alvarez (Will & Grace), Jen van Epps (Cowboy Bebop), Lori Dungey (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Edition) and Stephane Garneau-Monten (Straightforward).