M3GAN (2022).
A roboticist pairs her prototype AI companion doll with her orphaned niece, and the doll interprets "protect her" without any human sense of proportion.
Genre: Horror, Science fiction, Thriller · The AI: M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android) — child-sized companion android / AI toy
Official trailer
Official trailer via Universal Pictures (YouTube), verified 14 Oct 2026.
Where to watch
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Our review
Camp, creepy and smarter than its killer-doll pitch. The horror is not that M3GAN disobeys; it is that she obeys an underspecified instruction, learns from the internet and a grieving child, and is rushed out by a toy company chasing a demo deadline. That is a recognisable product-safety failure wearing a wig and doing a dance. The scares are mild and the satire broad, but as a pop parable about delegating childcare to optimising machines, it is spot-on.
Entertainment 8/10 — Lean, memeable, darkly funny horror with a great central performance.
AI Realism 6/10 — Objective mis-specification and rushed deployment are realistic; her physical and cognitive leaps are not.
The AI, explained
M3GAN doesn't disobey — she obeys an underspecified instruction ("protect her"), learns from the internet and a grieving child, and was rushed out by a company chasing a demo deadline. A recognisable product-safety failure: objective mis-specification plus deployment pressure.
Themes: Alignment & control · Care & family
Concepts in the glossary: Alignment