M3GAN Trailer: Sugar And Spice And A Dancing Killer Robot

Every once in a while, a totally gonzo movie comes along that helps audiences remember the weird and wild joys possible in cinema. The 2021 film "Malignant" did just that, with a totally bonkers third act that took everyone by surprise. Now, from the writer of "Malignant" and the director of one of the best independent horror-comedies ever, "Housebound," comes "M3GAN," about a doll-like robot created for the express purpose of protecting its primary user — in this case, a little girl named Cady (Violet McGraw). The first trailer showed off a bit of the film's wacky tone, and now there's a second trailer to dive even deeper into this devilishly fun story about a little girl and her killer doll (who happens to look eerily like Elizabeth Olsen). 

The second trailer shows off even more of James Wan, Akela Cooper, and Gerard Johnstone's wild tale, promising that "M3GAN" is going to be an absolute blast. It might not end up being the scariest thing you see in the next year, but it's almost guaranteed to be one of the most fun. 

"M3GAN" also stars Allison Williams as Gemma, who creates the doll-like M3GAN and decides to do a test run when her young niece, Cady, is left orphaned and Gemma becomes her caretaker. What starts innocently enough seems to start showing the cracks pretty quickly, as Gemma tells Cady that M3GAN isn't a person and Cady responds angrily. There are probably some interesting bits about personhood and AI, which grows more and more relevant each day as our own technology progresses, but folks shouldn't go into "M3GAN" expecting the next "Blade Runner" or even "Westworld." 

Producer and co-writer Wan called "M3GAN" "'Annabelle' meets 'The Terminator'," and this trailer looks pretty accurate to that take. I would say there's definitely a tiny bit of "Child's Play" in there, too, since Chucky has become the de facto killer doll in pop culture history. M3GAN isn't powered by the soul of a deranged killer, however, but is simply a program within a humanoid body. She is incredibly powerful, but also still bound by the rules of machines. (Except of course Asimov's rules of robotics, which state that a robot cannot harm a human being!) And unlike the Terminator, M3GAN may not have Skynet at her disposal, but she's got some killer dance moves. 

"M3GAN" will shimmy her way into theaters on January 6, 2023.