Warning: This post contains major spoilers for M3GAN
M3GAN’s ending leaves the audience with a lot to contemplate, and teases a sequel. Directed by Gerard Johnstone from a screenplay by Akela Cooper, who came up with the story alongside famed horror producer James Wan, M3GAN is the first major horror release of 2023. The film received an overall positive critical reception, with critics describing it as campy and fun.
M3GAN ties up the majority of its plot threads by the end, but it leaves a couple of lingering questions, and a sequel setup that should have audiences anticipating more to come. At a cool 102 minutes long, M3GAN doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it delivers on the horror element while maintaining a sense of humor. The horror film juggles a lot of themes that come together by the film’s end, which includes a thrilling fight scene and a hint at more to come — M3GAN may not be done trying to be Cady’s caretaker, after all.
Related: Gerard Johnstone Interview: M3GAN
What Happened At The End Of M3GAN?
M3GAN ends with a showdown between the AI doll, Gemma, and Cady. Gemma is finally able to connect with Cady without avoiding any of the hardship or emotions that come with her grief. Gemma learns that parenting is hard, but that she has to try and maintain an emotional connection to her niece or risk losing her, and being replaced by, a doll. M3GAN is not pleased with this development and overrides her code, hacking into the systems at Funki, and killing David and Kurt. She confronts Gemma, and the pair duke it out, but Cady delivers the final blow, using her aunt’s robot to take out M3GAN and destroying her processor.
Will Gemma Lose Her Job At Funki Toy Company?
Gemma is the inventor of M3GAN, and she pushed for David to greenlight the project, which was then presented to investors. However, things didn’t work out the way she had hoped, and M3GAN not only went haywire, acting outside of her parameters, but the AI doll also killed multiple people, including Gemma’s boss and his assistant. It’s possible Gemma could blame M3GAN for malfunctioning due to not having enough time to perform adjustments before being made public.
Given the damage and death the AI doll caused, it’ll be hard for Gemma to justify M3GAN’s actions to others. Since she’s M3GAN’s creator, she will likely take responsibility for the doll’s issues, and that could cost Gemma her job and put her career in the toy industry at risk. While Kurt could be blamed for David’s death, there is too much evidence stacked against Gemma for her to maintain her position at Funki. This is especially true considering the toy company’s investors will want someone to blame, and Gemma is the easiest target.
Who Will Be Charged With M3GAN’s Murders?
M3GAN went on a killing spree, and though she got away with her first three kills, the deaths of David and Kurt couldn’t go unnoticed. But now that everyone believes M3GAN is dead, will the police arrest Gemma on murder charges? To be sure, Allison Williams’ character didn’t actually kill anyone, but she could face legal repercussions because she created M3GAN to begin with, and then failed to fix the flaws she developed despite knowing about them. That said, it’s possible Gemma will not be fully blamed for the doll’s horrific actions, though she may face the public’s ire for having invented it knowing the extent of M3GAN’s actions.
Related: Every Movie Coming To Theaters In January 2023
Why M3GAN Overrode Her Code & Refused To Follow Instructions
M3GAN was simply doing everything in her power to follow her original instructions — to protect Cady from any emotional and physical harm. Because M3GAN’s AI code included emergent capabilities, the doll was able to understand that she was Cady’s protector. That meant refusing to follow instructions if it meant abandoning Cady at any point, even if it was to shut down for a few moments. M3GAN was also trying to maintain control. Once Gemma realized that Cady was too attached to the doll and that she was becoming a menace, M3GAN began to see Gemma as a threat to her influence over Cady, as well as a threat to M3GAN’s own wellbeing and safety.
What’s more, M3GAN didn’t have any type of parental controls or parameters that necessarily prevented her from overriding her code and refusing instructions. The killer doll did what she felt she had to do to remain a dominant figure in Cady’s life, and to ensure that no one could get in the way of that. Suffice it to say, M3GAN took her initial directive to the extreme, and she didn’t see anything wrong with doing so if it meant she stayed alive and could continue performing her responsibilities.
Why Did Kurt Copy M3GAN’s Files?
When Kurt began copying M3GAN’s files to his own computer, it seemed as though he would try to exploit David — or, at the very least, steal M3GAN’s code and take it to another company to use for his own personal gain. However, Kurt did none of those things. It seemed as though he stole M3GAN’s files as a backup in case David ever truly crossed him, but Kurt turned out to be a coward when it came to actually using the AI code to cause any damage. At worst, Kurt’s actions were meant as a prank, but all it did was put him in the line of fire with M3GAN.
How M3GAN’s Ending Sets Up A Sequel
M3GAN’s ending saw the titular character killed off, but the doll is AI and proved she could intercept phone calls and transfer to various other technologies. Though M3GAN is now without a body, the doll seems to have transferred her AI processor to Elsie, Gemma’s virtual assistant. It’s possible M3GAN did this right before Cady destroyed the doll’s processor. M3GAN continuing to live on could mean big trouble for Gemma and Cady, and their bond. It’s possible M3GAN will bide her time before the AI reveals herself. A M3GAN sequel could explore how the AI will return, how she might claim another doll’s body, and the revenge plot she most likely has in store for Gemma.
Related: Screen Rant's Winter 2023 Movies Preview
The Real Meaning Of M3GAN’s Ending
M3GAN is a thorough examination on the dangers of AI technology and how too much of an attachment to technology — phones, tablets, computers — can be detrimental to one’s growth. Crucially, the horror film suggests that there is no replacement for human connection, especially one between a parent figure and a child. M3GAN helped Cady through her grieving process, but the AI was merely distracting her from feeling all the complicated emotions that came with grief. M3GAN was ultimately hindering Cady’s growth, and attempting to replace human connection with technology wasn’t healthy.
M3GAN provides commentary on the state of technological advancements and society’s overreliance on them. The horror film argues that too much screen time and the increasing dependence on technology, including phones and virtual assistants, leads to a sense of detachment from reality itself. M3GAN points to the importance of people maintaining an emotional connection and how it can never be replaced, regardless of how advanced AI can get. M3GAN also showcases the grieving process and how it can be different for everyone, but that the attachment to an inanimate object or person as a way to avoid certain feelings or replace a parent figure isn’t a good thing, though it does happen.
More: Every Horror Movie Releasing In 2023
