The following contains spoilers for M3GAN, now playing in theaters.
M3GAN is a solid horror film with a fun premise that it utilizes for some good scares. On top of introducing the latest take on the classic horror trope of the "evil doll," the movie touches on a lot of threads about modern technology and being a parent in the current age of ever-evolving technology.
But what's deceptive about the film is how much of it is actually focused on being funny. In fact, there's a good case to be made that M3GAN is far more of a comedy than a horror movie -- and that focus really works in its favor.
M3GAN Is Making Jokes From the Very First Minute
From the first scene of M3GAN onward, the film doesn't play out like typical horror movies. Although there are still plenty of tragic moments and tense sequences, the film's primary focus is on an amplified and ridiculous version of the modern toy industry from the get-go. An in-universe commercial plays at the beginning, revealing a Furby-esque toy that a little girl embraces in light of her pet dog dying. It's an odd, darkly humorous riff on the kind of feelings and emotions that toys are supposed to emulate and sets the tone for the rest of the film. Gemma's (Allison Williams) attempts to appease her boss, David (Ronny Chieng), are full of gags about her reluctance to work on just another version of their successful previous designs, which is only further complicated by the presence of her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), after the death of Gemma's sister and brother-in-law.
While the movie does have some pretty grisly deaths throughout its runtime, it's never fully focused on the horror at the heart of the concept. Instead, each of M3GAN's kills comes with a comical level of petty absurdity. The neighbor constantly harassing Gemma is killed with a power washer, and David eventually meets his end at the hands of a dancing robot armed with a ripped-apart paper cutter. Even the genuinely unsettling movements of M3GAN chasing down the cruel boy who'd been picking on Cady come with some unexpected laughs, as M3GAN transitioning from creepily still to suddenly rushing over at full speed on all fours like a predatory animal comes as such a shock, it's hard not to laugh. It's something the film recognizes and embraces to strong effect.
Why M3GAN Is More of a Comedy Than a Horror Film
While M3GAN is an effective thriller, it never really stops being a comedy. In fact, it has more in common with the comedy genre than horror, especially in its development of gags and plot twists. This isn't to decry the movie's unsettling moments or to argue that M3GAN is any less threatening. If anything, this successful blend of genres makes the scares more effective. As explained by James Wan and Jason Blum during an interview with CBR, the comedy lures the audience into a safer state of mind -- making the subsequent scares all the more shocking when they come. It also allows the film to more easily play into a general horror trope of turning victims of gruesome deaths into cruel people, allowing the audience to be more at peace with their demises.
The comedic elements of the movie allow the characters to be more broadly unlikable when they need to be, allowing the real character focus to stay firmly on Gemma, Cady, and M3GAN. Other films that have leaned further into comedy but never relented on the genuine scares inherent to the premise (like Shaun of the Dead or Army of Darkness) were also loads of fun. But M3GAN's tonal juggling act allows it to be the best of both worlds in the best kind of way. The melding of horror and comedy is often capable of turning seemingly exhausted premises on their head, allowing creators to embrace goofiness to the benefit of the horror. By not just being a horror movie with jokes but rather being a dark comedy that embraced terror, M3GAN lives up to its premise and then some.
To see how it handles its comedy and scares, M3GAN is now in theaters.