There are two guarantees in life: death, and a PG-13 rated horror movie releasing in the first week of January. However, what’s not a guarantee and actually a rarity is that the film in question is good. However, horror’s new trailblazer M3GAN has continued the tread set by last year's Scream reboot and broken that curse. The reviews and word of mouth for this new fashionable killer doll have been bloody sensational. Now, on the day of the film’s release, M3GAN has been certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 95% after 122 reviews.
While M3GAN has enjoyed one of the most purely entertaining marketing campaigns in recent horror memor,y full of Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish songs, not even the most optimistic horror fan could have predicted this result. In terms of Blumhouse productions, the film now has a better rating than modern classics like Insidious, Split, and The Invisible Man. The only film that has a higher rating for the studio is Jordan Peele’s Oscar winner Get Out.
However, this really shouldn’t be a surprise as the talent behind M3GAN is insane. Although this is only director Gerard Johnstone's second film, M3GAN comes from the horrific mind of producer James Wan. Wan of course is best known for Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious, and Malignant. He’s both the master of modern horror franchises and killer doll movies. His film Dead Silence is one of the most underrated horror films to come out of the 2000s, and Annabelle has been scaring moviegoers for a decade now. The film is also backed by screenwriter Akela Cooper, best known as the screenwriter for Wan’s Malignant. This blood-soaked giallo inspired 2021 film is arguably Wan’s best in his vast catalog of horror masterpieces. It was both horrifically scary and entertainingly campy, which is the same gleefully fun tone M3GAN struck. When you add its cast into the mix, which features modern genre staples Allison Williams (Get Out, The Perfection) and Violet McGraw (Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House), this kill happy film has all the sinister ingredients to succeed.
In Collider's own review, Alyse Wax gave the film an A- saying, “M3GAN might just become the Malignant of 2023. It doesn’t have a twist, but it is a weird, bonkers movie. Director Gerard Johnstone knocked it out of the park with his second film. It’s not traditionally scary, but it is existentially scary.” Everyone’s falling head over heels for M3GAN. When you combine the near flawless word of mouth with the film’s stellar marketing campaign that oozed confidence, M3GAN is about to dominate the box office. The film has already made $2.75 million in Thursday previews and is on its way to make around $20 million this weekend. That may not seem that much when you compare it to the massive blockbusters we’ve been getting lately, but this was a film that was only made for $12 million. That $20 million number almost doubles that and things like this new certified fresh rating could give M3GAN the potential to make even more.
M3GAN is moviegoers' new horror queen. With review and box office numbers like these we definitely haven’t seen the last of her. The film’s in theaters now, and you can view its latest trailer down below.