Horror-comedy M3GAN is an early contender for 2023’s wildest movie

If you thought you had this movie pegged from the trailer, you haven’t seen anything yet.

M3GAN is in Australian cinemas today.

If you’ve seen the trailer for much buzzed about killer doll movie M3GAN, out in Australian cinemas today, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a superviolent horror flick.

Turns out, it’s an early contender for funniest film of 2023.

There were clues in the cast list: Allison Williams, always hilarious as the brittle Marnie in Girls. Actor and genius Instagram comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez as her workmate in the lab at FUNKI, a company that develops hi-tech toys, and Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng as her boss.

But truly, nobody in the film is funnier than M3GAN herself, voiced by Jenna Davis and performed with incredibly physicality by 12-year-old ballerina Amie Donald, hidden underneath a creepily lifelike doll costume.

Every girl’s new favourite robot murder doll. Picture: Universal Pictures

In scene after scene, M3GAN steals the show, as her initial sweetness unravels to reveal her sinister intentions.

She’s the ambitious invention of tech toy creator Gemma (Williams), fasttracked from her testing phase when Gemma suddenly becomes guardian of her niece Cady after her parents are killed in a car accident.

Gemma insists that M3GAN (short for Model 3 Generative Android) has been created as a friend for the lonely young girl, but from the outset it’s clear Gemma’s really hoping to shift her new-found parental responsibilities onto the robot, leaving it to pick up all the mundane parenting tasks that have been thrust upon her.

M3GAN, cruelly locked out of this year’s Best Actress Oscars race. Picture: Universal Pictures

But M3GAN’s sole remit – to look after Cady, her “paired human” – soon sees her going to extreme lengths to protect her.

Yes, there are a few violent deaths in the film – but M3GAN has a surprisingly low body count. Instead, screenwriter Akela Cooper and director Gerard Johnstone make a meal of M3GAN, exploiting every possible angle for laughs.

She’s an icon, she’s a legend, she IS the moment. Picture: Universal Pictures

There’s her look – has an on-screen killer ever so closely resembled Olsen twin? – and her habit of turning up unannounced in the middle of a conversation after Gemma could’ve sworn she’d switched her off (rarely have traditional horror movie jump scares been used to such comic effect).

Then there’s her oh-so-tweenage-girl love of singing and dancing … when she’s not murdering. You’ve probably seen the much-memed moment M3GAN bursts into a TikTok-worthy dance shortly before one of her killing sprees:

#M3GAN killer doll dance pic.twitter.com/UaY6MwuZG0

— 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 (@_UniHorror) January 10, 2023

… but wait until you hear her serenade Cady in bed with a hilariously unsettling acappella rendition of Sia’s Titanium. Murderous rampages and stunning vocals? Get you a girl who can do both!

The film’s already “shattered expectations” at the box office since its US release last week.

And it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that, by M3GAN's end, the door is left very much open for a sequel. Australian producer James Wan has confirmed he’s in early talks for a follow-up: “We have an idea of where we want to go.”

Surely the only bad news here is that they’ve already used the perfect title for any third installment in a M3GAN franchise.