Megan

Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis (voice), Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Stephane Garneau-Monten
Directed by: Gerard Johnstone
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
2022

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A robotics engineer (Allison Williams) creates Megan, a lifelike toy capable of learning on her own. When she connects Megan with her niece (Violet McGraw), she is determined to protect her, no matter what she must do to achieve that.

Review:

Tim: The latest from Blumhouse revives the "killer doll" subgenre of horror films, this time with a more technology-driven terror. Megan is a decent film, but there's a few flaws that really hold it back. On a side note, somehow both my kids saw a trailer for Megan (unfortunately) and it's been a running joke about me watching it for a month or so. They are not fans, it's safe to say.

The story itself follows the typical path, more or less. It's a bit different from, Child's Play, for example, in that Megan was designed to protect the girl. The problem is that she's perfectly comfortable killing everyone around her. We get all the expected subplots- the technology/toy company determined to push forward with launching their world-changing product, the brilliant scientists caught up in their own creation and not stopping to think about the downside, etc. The story (co-written by James Wan) doesn't offer much we haven't seen before. It's somewhat of a testament to Gerard Johnstone's direction that we're mostly entertained regardless. We might not get too much new, but the events do hold our attention (mostly).

I think movies like these are always important, when we consider the dangers of rapidly evolving technology that humans can't fully understand. Watching this in the wake of ChatGPT and the many articles about AI that have been populating the news cycle gave this film an extra boost of realism. We might not have killer robot dolls walking around, but far too many people are playing with technology that could be incredibly dangerous to humanity. The actions of those scientists aren't totally unlike the actions we see the technology firm workers taking here. It's sad that a movie like this feels timely and relevant, but it absolutely does.

While I mostly enjoyed Megan, there's a series of plot holes and ridiculous actions that quite simply sink the movie below the "good" threshold. The script has far too many absurdities. It's way too weak. I'll just highlight one. Megan is a prototype into which the technology company has sunk thousands and thousands of dollars. A short time before the launch, the lead on the project routinely takes the prototype home. In the most absurd event, her niece wants to bring Megan to some outdoor school outing. The lead engineer agrees with a line saying, "But no pictures". And then, proceeds to leave this game-changing technology on a bench with other toys, unsupervised. This is obviously so Megan can get up and go hurt someone. But it makes absolutely zero sense from a logical perspective. It just causes you to roll your eyes at the absurdity of the characters. The movie does this way too much- it makes illogical moves to drive the plot forward. Megan was left because the writers wanted her to go hurt someone, not because it made any kind of sense. This is what eventually hurts the movie irreparably-- too much weakness in the script.

The cast is fine, but unremarkable. I'm not convinced Allison Williams is or will ever be a great actress. She's perfectly serviceable in the role. I didn't have any issues with her performance, although there wasn't much to be excited about, either. It felt on par with dozens of other horror movie heroines. Violet McGraw was solid for such a young actress. She might not be quite as memorable as needed, but her performance is good. It was definitely one of the stronger aspects of the film. Ronny Chieng felt way too over-the-top to me. His performance felt forced and artificial. The rest of the cast were fine but forgettable.

I thought the visual effects were fairly good, but never great. Megan just looked weird to me. Maybe it's just approaching the uncanny valley, but I thought the pictures of Megan looked fantastic. Seeing her movements on screen felt less believable, more obviously computer generated. The dance scene was especially weird, but whether she was rendered as desired or not, it does create a general uncomfortable quality whenever you see her. I suppose that's a big net positive for the film. Her look is absolutely memorable, it's perhaps the one aspect of the film that sticks with you the most.

Blumhouse has put out some solid horror movies over the years. Megan feels clearly a tier down from their better stuff. It's a perfectly fine horror movie. It made $95 million at the box office, which is impressive. We'll likely see a sequel. It's decent enough for me to be encouraged by that. Johnstone is still early in his directorial career, but he managed to direct a decent film based off a fairly weak script. The hope would be that the script for a sequel manages to be better, and Johnstone continues to refine his technique. The reality is probably a weaker script with a worse director, but we can definitely be positive at this stage. All in all, this is a decent film. Not good enough, but often entertaining.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Child's Play, Simone, Annabelle