Lisaβs review published on Letterboxd:
I won tickets for this movie when it was released and passed them on to my daughter to enjoy, so I had been waiting very patiently for M3GAN to pop up on streaming services. Co-Written by Horror aficionado James Wan, with Wan and Jason Blum serving as Producers and Directed by Kiwi Gerard Johnstone and filmed entirely here in New Zealand (seemingly the hangout for these great little horror films of late!), it was fun to spot the Kiwi Connection π₯π³πΏ including comedian Millen Baird, Lori Dungey as nosey neighbour Celia and Amy Usherwood as therapist Lydia. With input from the Wizards at WΔtΔ Workshop for M3GANβs visual FX, itβs no wonder everything looks so seamless. The acting all around is surprisingly solid. Scream Queen Allison Williams is genuinely believable as out-of-her-depth Aunt Gemma, and young Violet McGraw as Cady, familiar from her breakout role in Netflix, The Haunting of Hill House, is a star in the making. The story moves along nicely and never feels contrived (the comedy present is totally intentional!) My one minor criticism would be that M3GAN is definitely not a full-blown horror, but for a jump-scare thrill ride, itβs kinda fun!
Random Movie Trivia㪠With a megre $12 million US production cost, M3GAN raked in over $181 million US at the box office. Not too shabby for a little Kiwi film! A sequel is planned for release in 2025.
