Heather Santrous’s review published on Letterboxd:
I got together with my movie friends last night and we ended up watching this movie during our watch party. I think everyone liked it, as one friend disappeared soon after the movie was over. After my other friend and I were finished chatting, I was feeling pretty tired so I decided to get the review done later. The story for this movie deals with Cady, a young girl who loses her parents to an accident. Cady's aunt Gemma takes her in, but Gemma isn't all that interested in being a parent. Not that she doesn't care about Cady. Gemma is just wrapped up in her work which is creating an interactive pet. She has been trying to make her creation cheaper, as a knock-off company is doing just that. She has also been working on M3gan, which she calls a toy but it is really much more than that. Gemma has been working on the project in secret, but it is really something Cady says that gets Gemma motivated to complete it. Things go well with M3gan at first. Cady loves having M3gan around but she might be becoming a bit too attached. M3gan in turn becomes more protective of Cady and won't let anything or anyone hurt her.
I had fun watching this one. It could have been better as far as the kills go, but it was still a fun movie. M3gan managed to be creepy at times and her run while chasing a boy was the creepiest thing I have watched in a while. Amie Donald does an outstanding job playing the role. I also liked Violet McGraw as Cady a lot as well. The story delves into parents pushing their attention and responsibilities onto others or something else. It is a fair point as I see it most days. Parents don't want the government involved with schools, but they are more than happy to allow the government to decide which books their kids can read. I get we adults can have busy lives besides being parents, but it is just a lazy way to be a parent at the same time.
Gemma isn't a true parent, just meaning that she isn't Cady's biological mother, and she comes across as annoyed that she now has to take care of Cady at times. This causes problems down the line, as I expected it to. Some of the things that happen can be a bit silly. I thought that Cady's outburst was a bit extreme since she is never shown to be that way until then. The little dance that people talk about with M3gan was kind of fun to me. This one wasn't perfect, but it has some fun moments to it so I enjoyed it a lot. It might have helped that I was watching it with like-minded friends, just a little bit anyway. Well worth checking out if you haven't already.
