M3GAN | 2022 | PG-13 | – 1.7.5

Why is “M3GAN” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violent content and terror, some strong language and a suggestive reference.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes suggestive dancing by an AI doll, three deaths by car accidents, a dog attack, a few encounters with an aggressive dog, the implied killing of a dog, several killings by sword as well as household tools, several fights between an AI doll and humans with attempted strangulation and hangings, many arguments, discussions of death, parenting and guardianship, and at least 2 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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After the tragic loss of her parents, a young girl’s (Violet McGraw) aunt (Allison Williams) builds her an AI doll named M3gan that is directed to keeping the child safe. When violent acts and disappearances raise suspicions, a decision must be made about their continuing relationship. Also with Amie Donald, Jen Van Epps, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jack Cassidy, Ronny Chieng, Lori Dungey and the voice of Jenna Davis. Directed by Gerard Johnstone. [Running Time: 1:42]

M3GAN SEX/NUDITY 1

 – An android in the form of a young girl dances and moves suggestively in one scene. A man asks another man if he is “porn-hopping” (he denies it).

M3GAN VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A woman searches for her missing dog at night, she enters a shed, and hears movement in the shadows: an AI doll moves toward her, sprays her with a power washer, shoots her in the hand with a nail gun (we see a bit of blood) and sprays her again in the head and face with the power washer (we see blood pouring down a drain as the woman screams and we see a body bag being loaded into an ambulance later). An AI doll chases a man through hallways, the AI picks up a sword and the man runs toward an elevator trying to escape it, but he is stabbed through the back (we see blood on the man’s shirt and the blade) and falls into the elevator with another man inside; the AI forces the other man to hold the sword and make it look like he kills himself by stabbing him in the head or neck (off-screen) and we see both men dead in a blood splattered elevator later (others in the scene scream when they see the bodies).
► A boy pushes a spike-covered nut into a young girl’s hand causing her to yell in pain, an AI doll stands nearby and the boy approaches it, speaks to it, tweaks it on the nose, picks it up and runs into the woods with it; the boy throws it onto the ground, stands over it, pulls off one of its shoes, straddles it, and slaps it hard across the face until it grabs the boy’s arm, and then pulls his ears stretching them off his head and tearing one ear off (we see the flesh stretching and blood on the boy’s head); the boy runs away and the AI chases (running like an animal on all-fours) until the boy tumbles down a hill and falls onto a road where he is struck by a car (we see a smear of blood and the boy’s shoe on the road). A man approaches an AI doll that is tethered to cables and appears to be switched off, he pokes the AI in the head with a stick, walks around it and unplugs cables from its head and back, and the AI wraps a cable around the man’s neck and pulls him off the floor; he struggles to get free until a woman cuts the cable and he falls to the floor gasping, and an explosion from gas leaking into the area blows flames into the room.
► A woman walks through a dark house and finds an AI doll playing the piano; they argue and the AI holds the woman around the throat threatening to pull her head off, the woman hits the AI with a glass of water and it sparks briefly letting the woman go; the AI recovers but moves unnaturally trying to follow the woman, the woman throws a hammer at the AI and it catches it and moves toward the woman that now has a chainsaw and slashes the AI on the head and face (we see some of the AI’s hair wrapped around the blade and an open gash in its head and face), and the AI head-butts the woman and we see her with a bloody nose.
► A large robot looms over an AI doll, grabs it, slams it to the floor, holds it upside down by the leg and pulls it apart (we see the pieces flung across the room and cables and wiring flicker and spark); the AI pulls itself over rubble in the room, grabs a young girl by the face and squeezes until a woman pounds the AI with a heavy object several times, and the AI strangles the woman until it is stabbed in the head and face with a screwdriver, disabling it.
► A man and a woman argue while driving on a snow-covered road; the car swerves, a child in the backseat unbuckles her seatbelt and the adults yell at her, the driver stops the car on the road and a snow plow crashes head on into the vehicle (we hear glass shattering and see the child in the hospital with bloody wounds on her face and wearing a neck brace later).
► An AI doll puts its hand through a hole in a fence and a dog on the other side bites it and pulls the AI through the hole, it bites the AI on the back of the neck and we see sparks as a child tries to make the dog stop; the dog bites the child’s arm and she screams for help (we see bloody tooth marks) until her guardian and the dog’s owner converge and argue. A dog is whistled for and enticed to come to a hole in a fence; we see the dog grabbed as it puts its head through the fence and the scene ends (we understand the dog is killed).
► The film opens with an ad about a child’s dog dying (we see a young girl crying at a grave) and about a toy that will never die, called a “perpetual pet.” A young girl talks about missing her parents and being afraid of losing her memories of them. A few scenes show a humanoid figure in a workshop suspended by cables with clamps on its wrists and cables plugged into the head and back. An android is tested in a workshop and we see the face making unnatural expressions until the flesh-like covering on the face bubbles and bursts into flames. A woman whistles and searches for her dog in a few scenes, without a response from the animal. A dog barks and jumps on the window of a car and the driver yells at the dog’s owner to keep it off her property; this happens in a couple of scenes and the women argue.
► A young girl is confrontational with a woman and argues with her, she throws a chair against an observation window, she picks up a pair of scissors in a threatening manner and when another woman enters the room, they struggle over the scissors and the child slaps the woman hard in the face. A young girl yells at a woman in a car and kicks the back of her seat in frustration. A woman yells at another woman and pounds on her window accusing her of doing something to her dog. A boy yells at his mother and curses at her. A man steals company documents.
► People argue about an AI doll having the potential of replacing parents instead of helping parents. A man and a woman argue about their child spending too much time using electronic devices. A man yells at a woman about a completing a project and working on something that he did not authorize; the man throws a tablet across the room and it breaks. A woman tries to interact with a young girl in several scenes and is awkward about being her guardian after the child’s parents died. A woman is concerned that a man will sue her and her team for not meeting a deadline. A woman is uncomfortable and sighs deeply during an in-home therapy evaluation session with her niece. A therapist tells a woman that a child might need to live elsewhere if she cannot prove that she can provide a safe place for her to live. People become alarmed when an AI doll is told to shut down and it does not. A young girl talks about her mother being frightened by an insect in the child’s backpack. A man says that looking at lines of code on a screen is making him want to throw up (he does not vomit).
► A toy spurts out small pellets that are implied to be feces. A toy flatulates in several scenes. An R/C toy falls over on a table and the top breaks off.

M3GAN LANGUAGE 5

 – About 2 F-words, 11 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (demented, weird, crazy, insane, monster, maniac, ungrateful), exclamations (oopsy-daisy, ever loving, oh my gosh, no-no-no, freak you out, what’s wrong with you, big woop), 18 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, oh God, God, I swear to God, Jesus Christ, Jesus, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

M3GAN SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man pours himself and a woman a glass of Vodka and they each drink.

M3GAN DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Death of parents, death, friendship, abandonment, AI technology, parenting, learning differences, responsibility, anger, confusion, guilt, fear, tragedy.

M3GAN MESSAGE

 – AI dolls can be great when used and programmed properly.