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A podcast that holds horror to standards horror never agreed to. Hosts Jeremy Whitley, Ben Kahn, Emily Martin and guests watch, read, listen to, and check out movies, tv shows, comics, books, art and anything else from the horror genre and discuss it through a progressive lens. We'll talk feminism in horror, LGBTQ+ issues and representation in horror, racial and social justice in horror, disability and mental health/illness in horror, and the work of female and POC directors, writers, and creators in horror.
We're the podcast horror never agreed to take part in.
Jeremy: Good evening and welcome to
Progressively Horrified the podcast
where we old horror to progressive
standards it never agreed to.
Tonight we are talking about
another absolutely amazing.
James won related creation, also
written by Nikila Cooper who wrote
malignant that we just talked about.
It is the amazing M three G A n.
That's right.
It's M3GAN.
I am your host Jeremy Whitley.
And with me tonight I have a
panel of cinephiles and ena bytes.
First, they're here to challenge the
sexy werewolf sexy of Empire Binary.
My co-host Ben Kahn.
Ben, how are you tonight?
Ben: Oh man.
Get ready for a movie that's
Chucky meets Malignant with
a Fail Girl of a protagonist.
So full of Fail.
She could only be played by one
of the stars of HBO's girls.
Alicia: Wait, is that true?
Was she on HBO's Girls?
Ben: Yes.
Alison Williams was one
of like the main stars.
Alicia: That's Rose right from Get Out.
Ben: Yes,
Alicia: Okay.
Okay.
All right.
Sorry.
Ben: in Get Out.
She's Good In this Girls is a she.
Jeremy: Now but do consider one of
the stars of girls what if it had been
Adam Driver creating M3GAN in this?
Ben: Ooh.
Also a very, also a very good movie,
Jeremy: yeah.
And tonight playing the part of
the cinnamon roll of Sena Bites.
English educator and my wife
and our editor, Alicia Whitley.
Alicia, welcome to the podcast.
Alicia: Thank you for having me.
Ben: man.
This movie can, we appreciate just like,
especially in the beginning of the movie,
just how fucked all of Cady's options are.
Like I have now seen this movie
twice and Cady's Options for
Parenthood is a murder robot.
Alison Williams and Jacksonville,
Florida, and I, I still don't
know which is the best option.
Jeremy: Yeah, it's like it wasn't bad
enough that it was like, go live with
your grandparents in another state.
It had to be in Jacksonville, Florida.
Ben: Well, I think because
when I was first watching it,
I'm like, yeah, absolutely.
Send her to the grandparents.
I'm sure they're more qualified
and they're like, in Florida.
I'm like, now, hold on a second.
Let's start walking that
Alicia: Let's start.
Let's start thinking about what
we're really saying for this child.
Ben: I feel like the line that best
sums up Allison Williams' character in
this movie is near the end when they've
realized that like M3GAN is unhealthy.
There's two problems.
M3GAN is both emotionally unhealthy,
even when working perfectly
well and is also a murder robot.
The movie is pursuing those two
problems that like simultaneously,
it's a, it's a hell of a juggling act.
Alice Williams is confronting why
she never talked to her orphan
niece about death and has the line.
I didn't know what to say, so I did.
The only thing I knew how to, and the only
thing she knew how to do was apparently
create Sensient artificial life,
Alicia: Sent she an artificial
life that she did not understand.
Ben: like so just a wild statement.
I didn't know what, how to talk to you,
so I just made a murder robot instead.
Jeremy: the whole meme of like, guys
would rather do X than go to a therapist.
For her, it's like she would
rather create a murder robot
than talk to her niece like,
Ben: If you're a Futurama fan and
you remember that bit with the scary
door about the scientist who creates
the robot that lives his own life,
this is pretty much that as a movie.
Jeremy: Yeah,
Ben: this and the bonis and old, just,
I don't know, Futurama, stay winning.
Jeremy: future.
I'm a surprising source of a lot of things
that then get used in horror movies.
Yeah.
So, uh, to give the little breakdown
here, this is directed by Gerard Johnstone
who I know we have talked about before.
I recommended at one point Housebound,
which uh, he also directed, which is a
little weird New Zealand horror movie.
And That's like, he's not done a
whole lot of stuff, but he is, you
know, now he's done M3GAN, and he's
apparently already signed on to work
on M3GAN 2.0, which is already in
the works, because of course it is.
Alicia: I'm into it.
Ben: I mean, how was that?
Not M3GAN with the A turned into a four.
Jeremy: that's what I said to Alicia.
I said exactly that.
I said the sequel to this
should not be M3GAN 2.0.
It should just be M3GAN with
the A as a four instead of
Alicia: What would the four
Ben: Because I swear for the longest,
I don't know, but for the longest
time, I truly did think there were
two M3GAN movies I needed to watch
before going to see this one.
Alicia: Because it was.
Ben: And that, honestly, that's what
put me up from seeing this for the
longest time was I'm like, yeah, I
hear I, I'm like, I hear it's good.
But man, I didn't even hear about
the first two, so it's like, do
I need to catch up with that?
Jeremy: I have to see M3GAN first
and it is, Like we said, written
by James Juan and Quila Cooper,
the same team responsible for
writing malignant Quila Cooper.
Man, she's funny.
Like this, this
movie is this movie.
And, and that funny.
And we talked about, you know, she's
written a couple episodes of Strange
New Worlds, which are some of the
best episodes of Strange New Worlds.
Alicia: The Star Trek Strange
Two worlds.
Ben: Yes.
Alicia: I really enjoy
Jeremy: She wrote both of the,
Ben: to start next week.
Jeremy: she wrote both of the uh,
doctor centered episodes with him and
Alicia: Oh my
Ben: the, I loved the storyline with Dr.
Invega and his daughter.
That was one of my favorite
parts of last season.
Alicia: absolutely.
You know, and as we were watching
M3GAN, I felt like the jokes felt
like home and they felt like.
Like I got them in a way.
It felt like it was speaking directly
to me and I was like, I can't put my
finger on it, but this movie feels black.
There are no black people in this
movie except like the one lab
assistant, but it feels, it feels
black
Ben: in terms of, the lab assistant I
don't know if y'all have ever seen the
Gay and wondrous life of Caleb Gallo,
which by the way is my recommendation.
It's a
Alicia: I have not seen it
Ben: but casting Brian Jordan Alvarez as
the Schlubby straight tech guy in flannels
and cargo pants was a wild choice.
Having mostly known him
as ca from Caleb Gallo.
Alicia: seen.
Okay, so this sounds like
something I need to see.
Ben: just seeing Brian Jordan Alvarez
play that aggressively straight was
kind of a camp delight all on its own.
Jeremy: Keela Cooper also wrote or
co-wrote another movie that we've talked
about watching on here, which is Hellfest,
which is a horror movie that all happens
in a at a horror fair Halloween thing.
But also features a lead
played by a non-binary actor.
So,
Alicia: Nice.
Ben: good.
But after they slash them, I no
longer just take that as a default.
Like, ooh, non-binary.
I'm like, they slash them
has ruined that for me.
Alicia: I Have you talked
about they slash them yet?
Ben: We have, we had issues.
Alicia: Okay.
I haven't listened to
that one yet, but I think.
Just to get completely off track for a
second, one of my biggest problems with
Ben: The MO visualized them
had no problem going off track.
Jeremy: Oh.
Alicia: one of my biggest like issues
with that movie, other than the weird,
like too long singing scene in the
bunk, was that the lead actor in that
role I really loved in oh my gosh.
The candidate, is that the
name of the, or the politician.
Ben: That's what the one with Ben Plat,
Alicia: Yes.
Loved them in the politician
and I felt like they, they were
bringing it and they slash them,
they were acting their little heart
Jeremy: doing their best.
Alicia: but there was just nothing.
It was like that movie
was a prime example.
Of the actors did their job.
Ben: Yeah.
No, it was really the writing that let
Alicia: It was really like you know,
sometimes you say like, oh, I don't, I
don't know that the writing wasn't that
great and the actors didn't have much
to work with, but my gosh, you could
tell it was the writing that was not,
Ben: the actors tried
their best, but like,
Alicia: and that weird
relationship at the very end
Ben: Oh, the
out of nowhere relationships or just
Alicia: I was like, I love him.
And it's like, wait, what?
Ben: just the moral message of like,
conversion camps are wrong, but putting
a stop to conversion camps is also wrong.
I'm like, I, that's just no matter
what the actors do, that's just
not a message I can get behind a
film, especially not in a horror
movie where my willingness to accept
cathartic violence is at its height.
Alicia: Especially because that movie
was like, the conversion camp was
like, Hey, we're not a conversion camp.
And I was like okay.
But we are gonna do horrible
things to queer kids and we're
going to treat them awfully.
And I'm like, then what's the point?
Like, what do you think
you are doing here?
Ben: Also we're gonna keep on
permanent retainer, a hired
in-house undercover twink.
Alicia: Right?
And it's like, so what is
your, what is your purpose?
Ben: why most conversion camps don't,
as far as I know, don't also have honey
pots, are allowed to go to completion.
Alicia: I know.
I was like, I thought the honey
pot was like, I'm gonna tempt him.
And then
Ben: man got that
Alicia: they went all the way.
Ben: that angelic twink took
it in the ass with no lube.
And only after that was he like,
and by the way, the trap is rung.
Jeremy: And after coming straight
out of the lake too, like
Alicia: I know.
I'm like, you're old and what, like how
Ben: of late sex in that
movie also very upsetting.
Alicia: very, especially
between adults and teens, what?
Whatever we're not here to talk
about they slash them that that
movie had a ton of problems and I'm
sure that you all talked about them.
We are here to talk about a movie
that we all enjoyed, I assume
M3GAN, and if you didn't enjoy
it, we are not friends anymore
Ben: I,
Alicia: and I don't understand you.
Ben: I really enjoy this movie.
I enjoy how so much of it is
very well crafted, smart, dumb.
But then every now and then
you just get some good old
fashioned, straight up, dumb, dumb
Alicia: Yes, and I loved it.
Ben: M3GAN's motivation changing
like four times in a single scene.
Alicia: Yes.
Or M3GAN deciding that she needed to
explain the entire reasoning behind how
she was gonna stage this murder suicide.
Like she went into a lot
of detail for no reason,
Ben: the corporate espionage plot that
I swear I thought was at least gonna
be like, how we get a stinger hook,
but go, just nothing.
It's nothing,
Alicia: I thought like the corporate
espionage, okay, here's what I thought.
I thought that because he had
downloaded those files, once they
got rid of M3GAN, whoever he was
sending those files to, would then
transfer her consciousness somehow.
Or they would boot it up and be
like, oh, now we've got a a M3GAN.
You know, I thought that that was
going instead of you just stole
some company secrets because you
thought it'd be a fun prank just to
see if you could get away with it.
And I was like, is that,
Ben: Instead,
Jeremy: be like Jurassic Park.
It's gonna show up five movies down the
line and just like, Hey, remember that
like dropped plot thread where there
was a whole like, you know, intellectual
property theft that just ended because the
guy died before doing anything with it?
Yeah, we're gonna pick that up.
I,
Alicia: All right, so
who's doing the recap?
Ben: did we assign that?
I could wing it.
Should I wing it?
Jeremy: I feel like any of us are
gonna be winging it at this point.
Ben: Winging it.
All right, Cady, who is honestly, again,
we get another amazing uh, great child
actress performance in Violet McGraw.
Um,
Alicia: Absolutely,
Ben: I'm at the point where I think child
actors is inherently unethical, but these
kids keep doing such great performances.
Jeremy: and this, this kid also is young
Nell in the haunting of Hill House, which
is another like, maybe don't expose kids
to that, but also she did a great job
Ben: Yeah.
So I don't know how much trauma is
the right amount of trauma for art.
Alicia: I dunno, but she
perfectly delivered with
your $5 handbag as an insult.
Ben: She fucking decks Allison
Williams in the, in the face in this
movie, and it's kind of amazing.
She fucking hurles a chair at a window.
Like she's just straight up w e
Alicia: And she went
for it in every scene.
Okay.
All right.
Back to the recap.
Ben: Alright.
They're in the, they're in the snow.
Cady's driving with her parents but
then the parents meet the mean old Mr.
Plow home.
That's right.
Homer Simpson.
Mr.
Plow just straight up kills him.
Jeremy: That murder again was Mr.
Plow.
Ben: Oh, you made my terrible joke.
Or, good.
Thank you so much, Jeremy.
I love you.
I was going nowhere with it then.
You gave it a great ass punchline.
Ah, this is why we're co-writing
a book, the Dashing School for
Wayward Princess now announced.
Fuck yeah.
Motherfuckers.
Jeremy: Reorder It in like a year.
Ben: yeah, meanwhile, Cady is then
sent to live with her on Allison
Williams, a roboticist at a does this
movie also takes place in Seattle.
I'm looking at the Wikipedia page.
Is this another Seattle movie?
This, this takes place in the same
universe as malignant who like you.
You convinced me.
Otherwise,
Alicia: the Pacific
Northwest inherently creepy?
Jeremy: That seems to be the
way we're moving is Pacific
Northwest as home of creepy shit.
Alicia: All right, I'm with it.
Ben: I don't think Alita, I
don't think Aquila Cooper went
to uh, was in the Northwest.
Uh, James fucking Australian.
Like, I think they just love Twin Peaks.
Jeremy: Here's the wonderful thing about
the Pacific Northwest is you can just
shoot in Canada and pretend it's the
Alicia: mm indeed.
All right, so she's at
the, she's a roboticist.
I thought she was just a toy developer,
Ben: oh, the choice she developed
are pretty crazy robots.
Alicia: that's true, like furby
Ben: Yeah.
Oh my God.
Perpetual patches.
Fuck.
The mouth is horrifying
on Perpetual Pet, right?
Jeremy: They show a model
of the perpetual pet.
That's fine.
And then the one they keep going
back to is the one with the crazy
fucking mouth, with the, like human
looking teeth, which is not okay.
Ben: It's real ugly.
Sonic vibes.
Jeremy: Yeah, It's basically a pooping
furby is uh, I think what we establish.
Ben: So Allison Williams has been
assigned by her boss, c o Daily show
correspondent Ronnie Chang to build a
budget version of the Perpetual Pet.
And instead she has kind of just
embezzled about a hundred thousand
dollars of company funds to
create her own mini terminator.
Jeremy: It's accurate.
Ben: yeah, it's like Allison
Williams should be at the least
fired and probably in jail, right?
Like she should be in
jail by the end of piss.
Jeremy: Oh yeah.
Like this is another one of those who's
going to jail movies at the end of
this movie, somebody is going to jail.
Who is it?
Ben: Like, I'm sorry,
like four people are dead.
You can't tell me, oh, it was
the robot doll who did it.
I'm like, no.
Somebody needs to be legally
responsible for this.
Alicia: Absolutely.
Ben: Maybe dependent on Ronnie Chang.
I don't know.
Anyway, I keep getting distracted.
That's okay.
The movies is dis,
that's the movie's vibe.
Alicia: that is the movie vibe.
Ben: David
Alicia: thought it was, can I just
add that I thought it was really
interesting that in this car ride up the
mountain that they're taking to go to
the ski resort, you know where Cady's
mom has always wanted to take her.
They're complaining about the pet.
That aunt Gemma, that's Allison
Williams, is that her name?
Allison Williams's name.
They're complaining about this perpetual
pet that Aunt Gemma has given to Cady
because you play with it by using an iPad,
like you interact with it through an iPad.
And they were really concerned about
how much screen time she was getting.
So as parents, they are concerned
about is their child getting enough
like human interaction and is she
too into this pet, which Gemma
completely does not think about.
Ben: No.
Gemma builds a fucking robot just
to make an orphan user coaster.
Alicia: yes, and I really thought that.
Toy makers and people who
like make toys for children.
Okay.
That's toy makers.
I don't know why I said that
Ben: I don't think Gemma makes toys for
Alicia: I don't think so.
But you would think that,
Ben: herself.
Alicia: you would think that a
company like that would have some
thought process behind how children
work like child psychology as they
are making things for children.
Jeremy: We are showing a whole department
of people whose job that is, who are
just like staring at children, playing
with things creepily And taking notes.
Gemma not a part of that.
Alicia: not a part of that.
Yeah.
And so Ronnie Chang comes in and is like,
did you just build a new lab down here?
So not only has she embezzled like
a hundred thousand dollars to build
this frankensteinian creation, And
enlisted the help of two Igor's,
but also she moved her entire lab
from wherever it was supposed to be,
down to the basement and locked out.
Director, C E o, Ronnie Chang, like
his key card wasn't working and he was
like banging on the window to get in.
Ben: Allison Williams is objectively
a bad person in this movie.
She is in charge of her niece for like
a day and then gets so sucked into work.
She forgets to make her
child orphan niece dinner.
Jeremy: Yeah.
I mean, I think in a world where
GrubHub exists, this is not acceptable.
Like it's, it's like,
Ben: a woman who tells an orphan not
to play with the toys in her house.
Jeremy: Yeah, I.
Ben: It's hard to tell what level is
fail girl, what level especially is.
I do think there's an
element of autism coding.
Especially maybe in the scene where with
the psychologist, when you can just see
how Gemma is frustrated, Gemma, is that
the toy isn't being played with correctly.
It's not designed to be rolled around.
And how much is just her being like,
it's a fucking horrible person.
Alicia: so,
Ben: wanna conflate them.
I really don't wanna conflate
Alicia: I don't, I don't know.
You know, I gotta say, I was
thinking about my siblings and
I know I have, at least, I have
one sister who collects Barbies.
They are not toys.
She's very clear when my kids come over
about which Barbies they can play with and
which Barbies are not to be played with.
And you know, and you can see it on
her face that she is trying to be
kind and allow these children to play
with these children, things in the
way that children play with them.
And you can see her like stopping herself
from being like, like, don't do that.
You know, because she, but she's always
been that way with her toys anyway.
Ben: it, I think it a
very important difference.
Also, you are alive in this
Alicia: Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Ben: children are thankfully
not snowplow orphans.
Alicia: So,
Ben: Let the traumatized orphan
play with whatever the fuck she
wants, except as far as the normal
toys go, not the murder doll toys.
Alicia: all right, so,
Jeremy: Yeah.
I, I do wanna, like you said, there's a,
there needs to be a distinction between
the, like I feel like she is pretty
clearly autism coded and not in a way
that, like movies traditionally code
autism and not in a rain man kind of
way, but in a like, This is a person
who like has made a life for themselves
that is, is comfortable and they do
things the way that they do things.
And maybe they are embezzling
hundreds of thousands of dollars
to develop their own Terminator.
But like, the compulsion with which she
is like, no orphan you as a coaster.
It's like, oh no, I recognize that.
Not as horrible person stuff, but is like
having like your way that you do things.
Alicia: Dude, she's just, she's just
Ben: Yeah.
Jeremy: just like,
here's a coaster that's.
Alicia: this is what would happen if Bert
was allowed to live by himself and have
his pigeons and his bottle caps and his
saddle shoes and just not have anybody
eating cookies anywhere near his bed.
Ben: The one thing I will
absolutely defend Gemma on is
Cady, flush the fucking toilet.
That's gross.
Alicia: Listen, listen at the, no, I'm
not even gonna, so sometimes children
Ben: Listeners, I wish you could
see Jeremy's face right now.
I, I just saw a
Alicia: It's just, it's
a, it's a struggle.
It's a, it's a perpetual struggle
and you know, the reasoning, the
reason that was given was because
the toilet is loud and scary.
And when it's nighttime and the lights
are off in the hallway, I don't want
to flush the toilet because then
I have to run out into the hallway
and it's dark and scary in there.
So I just, anyway.
Jeremy: I think that then
became a habit and, but
Alicia: so let's get this
screen back on track.
So where
Ben: so, so, yeah.
So Gemma does a display, the head
explodes, M3GAN's head, not Gemma's.
And Ronnie Chang is like, what the fuck?
This is not what I asked for.
You're embezzling.
Build me what I asked for.
Please, please do your job.
Like Ronnie Chang is portrayed as purely
an unreasonable asshole in the scene, and
really his request is just a desperate
plea for an employee to do their job.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Ben: But you know, now that
she's got Cady living with her
Gemma decides, you know what?
No more embezzlement so.
And she assigns to complete Mavic, M3GAN
because, you know, after she sees how much
Cady bonds with Bruce, which is just like
a Chekhov's Punch drone, which is nice.
I love that.
As soon as they introduced
Bruce, I'm like, wow.
Can't wait for you to come back in
Act three to help fight against M3GAN.
It inspires Alison Williams to be
like, Ooh, what if a robot could
deal with this little girl's grief?
Then I wouldn't have to.
So she just keeps on embezzling.
But this time the head doesn't explode
and she doesn't write, and Romani Chang
is convinced to launch it like it is
all that, and sliced bread and the
kitchen sink and a bag of potato chips.
Alicia: And also it's $10,000.
Ben: it's, yeah,
Alicia: It's a very expensive child's toy.
But I think,
Ben: that
will get you.
Three vision pros,
Alicia: but I think one of the, the
reasons why she went forward with M3GAN is
because, She really was having a hard time
connecting with Cady and showing her Bruce
the puppet robot that she made in college.
You know, that was like her first
robot was the first time Cady
was like, wow, this is so cool.
But what she misread Cady's,
I think interest, right?
Cady is interested because Gemma takes
the time to take the face off of Bruce
and or the, the cover off of Bruce and
shows her like, these are his sensors
and this is how he smells and this
is how he, you know, and this is, and
Cady thinks that that part is really
cool, like she's interacting with Cady.
Cady is into it.
Ben: to smell
Alicia: dunno why the robot needed to
smell.
Ben: a completely remote controlled robot.
It didn't need like half of those things.
Alicia: I mean, I can only suppose that
if you are thinking that Bruce might be
good, good for like exploration, right?
Like if you are able to control it as
a puppet at home and Bruce can be on
Mars, maybe then you might want him to
be able to give you some data about,
you know, chemicals or something.
Ben: I'm good with that.
Alicia: Yeah.
Ben: Yeah.
Jeremy: Yeah.
The whole sequence with her not being
able to act, interact with Cady was
one of those things that I'm like, I,
you have a cool job that involves like,
making toys and, and building cool shit,
and robotics, kids like that stuff.
Why can't you just be like, Hey,
look at this cool shit I do.
You wanna like mess with
it while I work on my job?
I mean, I don't know if that's
just me being a parent or,
Ben: Oh no.
I mean, Gemma makes toys and robots and is
still somehow unable to be the cool aunt.
Jeremy: Yeah, she's, she just can't do it.
The second thing is we, we did skip over
a thing that's like just very briefly
touched on in this and I really think
reinforces your Gemma is a bad person
theory, which is Gemma says the way that
M3GAN's speech patterns were developed is
that they put, they put microphones with
the report, everything that children say
in front of perpetual pets back to them
and synthesize to this personality out
of like, Children's speech patterns and
her own boss does not know that's there.
Her boss doesn't know.
So the people well owning
it definitely don't
Ben: and he very wisely does not want
to know and be legally liable for that.
Alicia: Yeah.
He says, I don't know that
you didn't just tell me that.
Ben: Fucking Allison Williams
is kind of a war criminal before
she even starts the murder robot.
Jeremy: like, do you remember the
scene in, in the Dark Night where
like Lucius Fox is like, I can't
sanction you doing this Batman.
This is too far.
Alicia: He
Jeremy: That is the level at which Allison
Williams starts the movie is like Batman
monitoring everybody's cell phones in Hong
Kong and like that's like where we start
Ben: and she is doing it to make a toy
Alicia: Yeah.
She's not doing it to fight crime.
She's doing it to build a better ai.
Ben: have watched this
movie several times.
I still do not know who would make the
better parent, Alison Williams or M3GAN.
Alicia: I, I've gotta say that it,
well, I'll talk about how this.
It makes me think of Frankenstein at
the end because everything in horror
comes back to Frankenstein for me.
But, but go on.
So,
Ben: yeah.
So M3GAN and just keeps pairing with
Cady and M3GAN keeps learning and
learning and Cady gets more and more
emotionally dependent on M3GAN, you
know, throws tantrums when M3GAN
isn't around, refuses to be separated.
Won't go to school without M3GAN uh and.
Alicia: oh, oh.
And at one point girl, lab assistant
is like, Hey, if you're doing all of
this stuff with M3GAN, if you're having
M3GAN tell your kid when to flush
the toilet, and you're having M3GAN.
Teach your kids science lessons
and you're having M3GAN read her
nighttime stories, then you're
not actually parenting your kid.
And don't we need to think about, is
M3GAN going to interfere with your
ability to take care of your kid?
And Gemma says, she's not my kid.
Like, what the crap?
Ben: again, Alison Williams
is a monster in this movie.
Alicia: She was like, first of
all, that's none of your business.
Second of all, she's not my kid.
And it's like,
Ben: And third of all, God, I hope so.
Alicia: I also love the little
voiceover she does where she's like,
M3GAN is gonna be great because M3GAN
can do all of the little parenting
things that you don't wanna do, like
repeat yourself over and over again.
And M3GAN will never lose patience.
And you see the first time M3GAN says,
Cady, don't forget to flush the toilet.
And then like later on, M3GAN's like,
Cady, seriously flush the toilet.
Like even the robot is tired
of telling this kid to use a
coaster and flush the toilet.
Ben: Cady, the robot program to
love you is tired of your shit.
Is literally tired of your shit.
on, Cady.
In, in this one instance, little
orphan girl, I'm gonna tell you.
Get it together, but, oh my man.
So M3GAN eventually does, you
know, does what murder robots
do, get super overprotective
and starts going to murdering.
Jeremy: Now she does get attacked
by a dog first, which I think we're
supposed to understand is where like
some of her programming fucks up.
This dog attacks first M3GAN
and then the little girl.
And uh, this dog like grabs M3GAN by the
neck and is like throwing her around.
Which like if that was a real human,
that a human would be very dead.
Ben: yeah, like this is the first time
I've ever been like, had mixed feelings
about a dog death in one of these movies.
Jeremy: yeah, I don't know what the laws
are in Washington, but I can tell you in
North Carolina that dog would be dead.
Ben: that dog should not be
around children by any means.
Jeremy: and he definitely
should not be awful leash
wandering around a neighborhood.
Ben: Yeah.
Alicia: Yeah, so I think this is one
time where like M3GAN kills the dog,
and I feel a little bad that the dog
got tricked into coming to his death,
but he was a very violent dog, so, So,
Ben: was a bad dog.
Alicia: yeah, so M3GAN learns about
to, oh, and you skipped over the
part where they're working on M3GAN.
Ben: I'm not going beat by beat.
Alicia: I'm sorry.
But this is a really, I think
this is really important, M3GAN.
They're working on M3GAN in the
Ben: why we can about it though.
Okay.
Yes.
Alicia: Okay, I'm sorry.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
Okay.
But they're working on M3GAN,
Ben: Yes, you fucking started.
So let's go.
Alicia: so they're working on M3GAN in the
lab, and they're like, blah, blah, blah.
Cady's parents died and M3GAN's
like supposed to be off, and M3GAN's
like, how did Cady's parents die?
And they're like, M3GAN, we don't
need to talk about this right now.
And M3GAN's like, let me look that shit
up cuz you're not telling me about it.
And then she was like, how am I
supposed to talk to Cady about death?
And JMA was like, I don't really know.
And M3GAN's like, Hmm, all
right, so this is what death is.
And then she says, what
does she say, Jeremy?
She was like, am I going to die?
Or
Jeremy: Yeah.
And I was like, Hey guys,
you've created artificial life.
Like that thing just said that it
thinks of itself as being alive
and, and that it's curious whether
or not it will die at that point.
Either you shut it down or you
report it to somebody because that
thing just called, just like, just
referred to itself as being alive.
It is now self-aware.
Ben: Yeah, they, they did an
oopsie, but also this wasn't
an unforeseen circumstance.
It wasn't like you gave it to your
niece, not knowing that death might
come up from your recently orphaned
niece's therapy, Mombo sister bot
Alicia: Yeah, it's not like Chucky,
Ben: Yeah.
Like
You should have, prepared
for this eventuality.
Allison Williams this should
not have surprised you.
Alicia: Yeah,
Ben: Oh man, I can't believe Dev
came up in the, around my fucking
orphaned niece like that should
not have caught her so flat footed.
Alicia: so I'm sorry.
I got Alison,
Ben: the cuz otherwise the recaps, just
me talking by myself for like fucking half
an hour and that's not fun to listen to.
Alicia: So Allison Embezzles a
bunch of money to make a therapy.
Parent robot does not think at all about
the consequences of her actions, despite
being told by everyone else, Hey, this
kid might be getting too attached to this
toy Toys are designed to be let go of,
and her boss gets the whole wind of it.
Sees a great demonstration of it
actually working, and is like, we're
gonna roll this out to everyone.
Meanwhile, M3GAN been murdered.
She murdered a dog and
then she murdered a kid.
Ben: Oh, she murders the shit.
That kid is a little sociopath.
Like that kid would've grown up to
be like the husband and malignant.
Alicia: My kid
Jeremy: I mean, strictly
speaking, she doesn't.
Kill the kid.
She rips his ear off and then
chases him over a hill where he
then falls in front of a car.
Ben: Loved it.
Alicia: She, flushes her quarry
Ben: And again, to make
this child death acceptable.
First we have a scene of him just
like torturing Cady with a chestnut.
Like that was some real quant.
Oh, shit.
But again, they really gotta get
you on M3GAN's side for that.
Really?
All of her kills.
They get you on her side for all of 'em.
Pretty much.
I actually, I, no, I take that back.
That chemical washer was so brutal.
I'm like,
Alicia: That was so bad.
And then she goes after,
yeah, then she goes
after the, the dog lady.
The dog owner.
Ben: But no, like I know in
the censored version you don't,
that came out in theaters.
You don't get the ear being
stretched and ripped off
Alicia: So we watched the PG
13 version with our daughter.
And it was a, it was, it was enough.
I mean, it was,
Ben: Okay.
Alicia: it was still pretty.
Ben: You got it.
Okay.
Alicia: Mm-hmm.
Yep.
They
Ben: Do you still get the paper
cutter through Ronnie Chang?
Alicia: You don't see it go through, but
it's very, it's heavily implied, you know,
that it goes through, but okay, so she
kills the dog's owner because the dog's
owner banged on the window threateningly
and was like, I know you killed my dog.
Ben: not just any kill like
fucking power wash with like
Alicia: Same, also, same trap.
She makes the same exact trap
when she pulls it off twice.
The first time she imitates
the owner calling the dog,
and then the, the dog comes.
Then the second time she
imitates the dog whining for
its owner, and the owner comes.
Ben: This lady is power washed with
pesticides until like, thank God, because
this would've been, thank God we don't get
more than just like a little bit of it.
Like just enough to say my blood lust,
but anymore, and I would've been sick.
Like this lady is like, her
body is melted off her bones.
Alicia: like that's saying something
because y'all watched Video DDR
and we're like, oh, more of that.
Please.
Y'all, y'all watched the fly and
you were like, let's have a whole
month of, Cronenberg and still the
power washer with the pesticides.
Ben: It's like
Alicia: It's too
Ben: chunk, look, anytime.
Chunks of face are falling off.
Yeah, exactly.
No, I will say, man, do I wish
that the flyer had given us Jeff
Goble infuse to the radiator?
Alicia: Mm-hmm.
I can't get over the puke
scene in the fly, so.
Ben: that computer reading is
successfully fused, get fucked.
Who you gonna argue with is still one of
my favorite moments in any movie we've
done Just this blatant ass mechanical
failure that this computer is the balls to
Alicia: Success.
Ben: Success.
Perfect
Alicia: it.
Did it.
And what,
Ben: amazing.
Alicia: so then M3GAN
starts imitating what?
Elsie?
The little helper Alexa
Ben: so that's another thing about Allison
Williams' character that doesn't hold up.
Allison Williams loves devices and
technology and fucking everything
in our home is a smart device
connected to Internet of Things.
It's all connected and I don't fucking
believe that for a second cuz I
know people in software and none of
them trust technology whatsoever.
Fucking, you talk to someone who actually
works in like soft in like software
or security, like they don't trust the
fucking printer that beeps the wrong way.
Alicia: It's like the thing that people
say about like people who work in
tech and make tons of money working
in tech, send their kids to schools
that don't use a lot of like techs.
Ben: There is moments where like
M3GAN has clearly hacked into the
entire house's like electrical
system and is just b flickering the
lights for fucking dramatic effect.
And Gemma doesn't even know.
At no point goes, oh fuck, these things
should not be connected to each other.
She goes, yeah, this is fine.
The end result though, is really
that M3GAN has malignant powers.
Alicia: Yes,
Ben: Like that's
Alicia: M3GAN is getting obviously
more and more annoyed with Gemma.
Gemma is not paying attention to it.
Like,
Ben: like,
Alicia: like Cady puts her, Cady puts
her cup on the table and M3GAN looks
at it and notices that it's not on
the coaster, and then looks at Gemma
like, I'm not gonna say anything.
It's like, how do you not
notice the sentient here anyway?
Ben: oh man.
Also, God, I, I need to talk about the
weirdest fucking character in the whole
goddamn movie is the detective who
shows up after the dog lady is killed.
Alicia: And he's like, uh, that's
not funny, but uh, cracking jokes.
Ben: sorry.
Shouldn't have laughed.
Oh.
Who the fuck is this?
Like what's Kraken detective that
shows up in one scene and I can only
assume knows Detective Cocoa Shaw.
Alicia: Yeah.
This was after, what did you call him?
Cu you said you were
like Teddy bear cop and
Ben: Teddy
Bear Cop is delightful.
Teddy Bear Cop is the only good cop.
And then we get like, this man
contributes nothing to the plot, just
fucks with
Alison Williams full of character.
Alicia: It's like that's a lot of
character for somebody who gets,
I've gotta think that there must
be like more scenes with him in
there that got cut for time or, or
Ben: Either
Jeremy: they did.
They did some cuts to make this PG 13.
Which like, I don't think you
can really feel that much.
I mean, we've talked about there,
there's an unrated version in which
they just, they basically just edit
in a couple of like longer shots,
some like bloodier deaths and stuff.
But apparently there's like an
original version of this in which,
like, Lydia, the therapist is among
the people that get killed and
it has a higher body count from what
Ben: makes sense.
It's weird.
It's weird how the lab assistants survive.
That felt like a re-shoot.
Alicia: I liked that.
I was very happy they survived.
They didn't deserve death.
Okay.
Ben: no, like I, I, I, I think
it's either that or that detective,
like they cast like an improv
comedian and just let him riff.
Alicia: Yeah, so the detective comes
and tells Gemma, Hey, that little boy
that got killed it was real weird.
It was an accident, but we found
his ear like really far away.
Ben: He says in the most casual way
Alicia: Would you know
anything about that?
Ben: he is like, he describes it with
the tone of like, he lo of like, he,
he found like a wallet on the ground
and he is looking around trying
to figure out who it belongs to.
Alicia: Yeah, gross.
Right?
And then, and that's what
gets her thinking, whoa,
maybe M3GAN is killing people.
So she starts trying to
look through M3GAN's files.
M3GAN has deleted all of her files
and so she turns M3GAN off, wraps
her up and tells the assistants
like, we can't let this launch right.
M3GAN might be a murderer.
Jeremy: I love the like level at
which even then she's like, Right.
Like you guys also think this is a bad
idea, right?
Like, I probably shouldn't
have created life, right?
Like, that seems
Ben: she's looking for every.
Permission.
Jeremy: I'm playing God, and
I feel like that is not okay.
Is that right?
Alicia: Right.
Jeremy: Right.
Ben: Oh my God.
I love the big video they have where it's
just like Ryan Chang being like, this
girl isn't just surviving, she's thriving.
Alicia: Everything with Ronnie Chang
is hilarious to me, including when
he gets mad and throws his empty
water cup and demands a kombucha.
Jeremy: And Ray, I'm fucking
Ben: Oh, it's like, and I
want a key card for this door.
Alicia: Gemma's like, you know what?
I'm taking Cady home.
She's clearly traumatized.
I've made some errors here.
Taking Cady home.
I'm not gonna be a part of this anymore.
And then when she calls Tess
on the way home to be like,
Hey, we gotta scrub the launch.
That's when M3GAN,
Jeremy: Intercepts
Alicia: when Megan, yeah.
But it's weird because M3GAN
includes a lot of details.
Like, oh my God, this is
what's going on over here.
I was like, why would, why
did she, that was unnecessary.
But anyway.
Jeremy: She, she is
glitching too at this point.
She has a little problem with her.
Gladys auto tune occasionally
kicking in when she's.
And, you know, faking
other people's voices.
So
Ben: And this is the great scene
where despite now knowing that M3GAN
is definitely a murderer, Allison
Williams, still almost begging for
permission to go ahead with the launch
and being like, this is a little murder.
Jeremy: and then she just leaves
the killer robot in the, like,
the building that's full of
children and goes home herself.
And d doesn't like, tells the
lab assistants on the way, but
does not tell her boss at all.
Alicia: Mm-hmm.
So then M3GAN goes on a murder spree.
Ben: Yeah.
Which I, why did she kill Ronnie Jang?
Alicia: There's no reason.
Ben: no movie.
Like she just
Alicia: There's no
Ben: dance and decides to do a murder.
Alicia: reason for her to dance,
and there's no reason for her to
like take a paper cutter and murder
Ben: well, well, let's be clear now.
There's always reason to
dance if the music strikes.
Yeah.
But
Alicia: And he's like, what?
Doing?
Ben: like that,
Alicia: She wanted to
go to her little girl.
I guess Jeremy.
Jeremy was saying that maybe she
needed the car keys, but she's a robot.
Like she doesn't, I don't know.
Jeremy: M3GAN doesn't explain a
lot of her motivations for things,
and I, I assume for some reason
in my brain that she dislikes the
fact that he treats her like a toy.
And just like sort of,
Ben: she is.
Jeremy: yeah, I
Alicia: She's a child's play thing.
Ben: I mean, she's clearly evolved
beyond that, but I don't know how much
we can blame Ronnie Chang, c e o of a
toy company for treating a product of his
company, of his toy company like a toy.
Alicia: Yeah.
So she gets home, she kills
a bunch of people, horrifies.
Everyone traumatizes a bunch
of kids when they see two
Ben: Well, I love that.
I love that they turn around and
like she still has enough time to
wa get the fuck outta the elevator
Alicia: yeah,
yeah.
Ben: before anyone looks behind
and sees like two dead bodies.
Alicia: Yep.
And then she gets home and
starts fighting with gma.
I don't remember what she said.
I just remember going,
well now wait a minute.
We were having a really nice conversation.
Ben: I feel like the bit of movie
magic Go back to the elevator scene.
And this isn't a criticism, this is like
what you need to have, but movie magic.
Because in real life what you would've
had when she's doing that whole long scene
about framing the assistant for his own
Alicia: Is the
Ben: suicide.
Yeah.
It's just the doors closing repeatedly
on
Ronnie
Alicia: of the elevator stay
open the entire time, and I
Ben: Yes.
Should have just been beeping.
Just been like banging up again.
You should have just gotten like
cutaway to just like it banging against
like Ronnie Chang's lifeless torso.
Alicia: yeah.
Yeah.
I was waiting for that
too, and it didn't happen.
I thought that was a missed opportunity.
Yeah, I agree.
Ben: But yeah, we got the
great, we got this fight.
Why Alison Williams?
Why did you build her with
so much robot strength?
Why did you give her head
ripping off capabilities?
But then Cady comes to the fucking
rescue with the checkoffs Bruce,
Alicia: Yes.
Ben: which I love.
Alicia: Yep.
Ben: gets all the big hits in this
Alicia: Yeah.
Until he, until he, steps on
a, on the second half of the
doll's body that's been ripped in
Ben: Yeah.
He, He, we, that great shot of him
just fucking ripping M3GAN apart.
Oh, also someplace at this.
But during all of this M3GAN
saying David Cueta songs.
So, uh,
Alicia: bulletproof.
Nothing.
Jeremy: She's, she at various
points sings titanium and then like
is
playing
Alicia: to soldiers
Jeremy: the
piano.
She just, she just programmed
with a whole library of songs that
are creepy for a doll to sing.
Ben: yeah.
I feel like it's just very important
to just know that that happens.
It doesn't impact the plot.
But this is just a movie
where a robot sings titanium.
Uh, But yeah, they'll like a good
terminator just being ripped in half on.
Keep it down.
So Allison's gotta rip apart
its face, but then she sucks, so
she still can't finish the job.
So it's up to Cady to save her again with
a fucking screwdriver to the robot brain.
The ending, happy ending,
the lab assistants lived.
Please let Allison Williams go to jail.
And Uhoh looks like M3GAN still
lives in the fucking Alexa machine.
The
Jeremy: Williams is definitely
in the cell next to.
, the woman from uh, malignant as, as
Dave said, who's going to jail here?
Like, somebody's gotta go to
jail for killing all of the
police officers in Seattle.
Ben: Yeah, I can't imagine the
families are gonna be like, oh
look, it wasn't this person.
It was their evil twin in the
back of their head, so it's okay.
Nobody needs to go to jail.
Jeremy: and this one is, it wasn't this
person, it was their evil robot that they
created using embezzled company funds.
So yeah, they're
Ben: All the Alison Williams
belongs under the jail
Jeremy: yeah, those two are definitely
in, in cells next to each other cuz they
can't be in the same cell cuz malignant
will turn backwards and kill her.
Ben: I love this movie and it's super fun,
Jeremy: Absolutely.
Ben: and Alison Williams
as the protagonist.
It's like you can't think that a
main protagonist can be so full
of fail, but then she's just
so compellingly a fail girl.
Alicia: At least she's better than
Victor Frankenstein because Victor
Frankenstein made his creation.
The creation, woke up and saw him, and
he immediately ran away from it and
pretended to have nothing to do with it.
So at
Ben: No, no.
She create Frankenstein took
one look at and went, great.
Do my
Alicia: Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She created her, her
monster then was like,
okay, perfect.
Jeremy: this.
Ben: What's better?
What's better?
Abandoning your creation or enslaving
slash commodifying your creation.
Alicia: Yes.
Jeremy: This is Frankenstein
plus capitalism.
Alicia: Well, okay, but it,
you know what, she didn't think
that she was making a life,
Ben: that's true.
That like Frankenstein was
explicitly like uh, let's make
life,
Alicia: Exactly.
Yes.
And then ran away from it.
When it came true.
She set out to make a doll
Ben: Like this is some Star Trek thing
of like, Hey, I work for a toy company
and I accidentally created life.
Should we sell that?
Cuz we didn't mean to do that.
Alicia: Yeah.
It's a real data, data
situation, isn't it?
Ben: You know, I just wanna see, I
feel like in the next movie they can
defeat M3GAN by making her count.
Fingers.
Let's just, that
Alicia: Draw a picture
with the right amount of
Ben: I'm sorry.
That wa like, we should have known from
M3GAN that like they're coming after
us with the fucking stable diffusion.
She's got that ai, what was that?
That invisible watercolor
portrait She did.
Alicia: Yeah, that was weird.
And then she, then she made a joke.
She was like a, whoops, sorry.
I spilled the water.
Oh, it's actually a picture.
Ben: Also, I do love how to go back to
the beginning with the perpetual pets.
I loved how at first it's
just a commercial for like,
ha, your d like dogs die.
Your dog
Alicia: But
Ben: Buy buy our toy instead.
Our support for this software app,
we'll definitely outlive a dog.
Alicia: Zuri was watching it and
she was like, this commercial is
really, oh, it's part of the movie.
But like it got her at first and
then it just kept getting weirder
and weirder and she was like,
Ben: It's kind of, I wish it'd almost
been like more of the tone being
that in your, like your face weird.
Like just how fucked up all
the company and products were.
Alicia: absolutely.
Ben: Also, I love every time when Alison
Williams is like, I made a promise to
my sister to always take care of you.
My sister, who I love.
I'm like, man, we got one scene of the
sister talking about Alison Williams.
She fucking hated you.
Like the one scene is just like the, like
again, the sister gets one scene before
she dies and her dialogue is mostly like,
Ugh, I hate this thing Gemma created.
I hate Gemma for sending it.
she's, she's she's so irresponsible
and sheep and that she, that she
probably didn't even pay for shipping.
It's ruining our daughter.
Fuck, fuck Allison
Williams dead by snowplow.
So like, I just love all the like
emotional police to her bond with her
sister, who it's like, She's fucking just
talking so much shit behind her back.
Jeremy: This is definitely, , this
is the same relationship that the
protagonist of Jurassic World has
with her sister who's, whose children
she also refuses to take care of.
Like it's the same, it's the same
character minus the, for some
reason high heels and, and dress
Ben: another great moment in this film,
I wish I could bottle up and sell the
side eye that the therapist delivers
when Cady says she's not allowed to,
allowed to play with Gemma's toys because
they're collectibles like the look the
therapist gives is just like, oh, we
could solve global warming if we could
like harness the energy of that side eye.
Which we could use because I am
coming to you from the Martian
hellscape that is New York City.
Alicia: Aw.
Jeremy: Yeah, even, even here,
we're not supposed to be going
outside as much as possible today,
Ben: oh, another great moment of just
Alison Williams sociopathy in this
movie is when she's talking to uh, Tess
and like even Tess is trying to like,
speak to Alison Williams humanity and
says like, you just lost your sister.
Alison Williams response to, without
missing a beat is, and we just spent
a hundred thousand of company funds.
She's a fucking sociopath.
Alicia: Goodness gracious.
Jeremy: the, you were talking about
the power of side eyes in here, the
power with which M3GAN just like cuts
through Gemma's bullshit in this cause
like usually these robots level out.
It creepy.
Whereas like Alicia was talking about
the, the conversation toward the end
where she's like, M3GAN, shut down.
And M3GAN says, hang on, I thought
we were having a conversation here.
Ben: is the, I like M3GAN first
killer robot I can recall that
evolved to the point of sassiness.
M3GAN is a very
sassy robot.
Alicia: Yes.
but she, yeah, she started
off a little, a little sassy,
Ben: She did.
I mean, again, like we said,
she was loosening her patience
right away where she's like, come
on, fucking flush the toilet.
Don't make me tell you.
Don't make me tell you
with the back of my hand.
Jeremy: and M3GAN's, if there is such
thing as heaven, you don't think it's
for little boys like Brandon do you?
Ben: Okay?
Okay.
That line though, fucking it.
Ice cold.
Alicia: Ice cold.
Brandon's in a better place, right?
Ben: I had to put on a sweat.
I had to put on a sweater
cuz that line gave me chills.
Like incredible.
Like, fucking hats off to Amy Donald.
Another fuck child actress who
played M3GAN just like, or, and then
Jenna Davis is the voice of M3GAN.
Dual role that just like, you know,
the two of them, physical and voice.
Just creating what of like
an instant horror icon.
Alicia: And M3GAN's
saying it's insane, right?
Like at the time that she says that
line, she's not actually, it's just
like a creepy quirk of a doll that
sometimes they say things weird.
Like our oldest daughter used
to have this little ball.
Then you would push and
it would say, roll me.
Like, you know, play with me.
Push me, roll me.
But it would say it like, roll me
Ben: push
Alicia: and
Ben: Yeah.
Alicia: yeah.
And it was just a really creepy
way that this doll spoke.
Or like our second child has a, she
had a puppy that used to sing a song
and say her name and it was like,
Ben: Oh, this is a toy, not a, not a
Alicia: yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was a toy puppy
Ben: I'm like, had a puppy.
What?
What?
What happened to the puppy?
Alicia: Toy puppy and it would go, I'm
singing about me and my friend Amara,
whenever I said her name, it would
stop it and go Amara and slower voice.
Ben: I do want somebody to edit
M3GAN's drawing to be like the water.
Like pours over and it just
reveals like dick butt.
I know it's a childish me, but it
just feels like too perfect to set up.
and then you keep the scene going
where everyone's reaction is.
This is just as like awe-inspired,
Alicia: wow.
Ben: like Ronnie Chang saying, this
is the moment we kicked escrow right
in the dick lives rent free In my head
Jeremy: Oh my God.
And, and speaking of M3GAN's
cold lines, that line where Gemma
is like, did you hurt someone?
And M3GAN's like, God, I hope not.
Didn't we
both be in trouble, wouldn't we?
Oh.
Alicia: was so.
Ben: I loved it.
I do love when fucking, like I know.
Like, just to bring us back to
when M3GAN was asking Gemma about
death and Allison Williams, like
short patience, frustrat responses.
We're looking into it.
What does that mean, Alison?
What you're looking into De
the fuck.
Oh, like again, like credit to
M3GAN for saving that demo where
your child performed just starts
sobbing in the middle of it.
Like as soon as it starts.
Like who?
Who like, fuck it.
Alison Williams.
Have a child long enough for it to
even get to the murder robot phase.
Alicia: It's wild.
Well, how do you feel like this movie did
with your progressive themes and tropes?
Jeremy: I think this movie's totally
feminist because uh, they have a
main character who is a female evil
genius with zero responsibility or
social aptitude, which is, is usually
something that is uh, reserved
for uh, for horrible guys in these
Ben: Totally agreed.
This is a level of fucking human brilliant
slash absolute fucking dumb fucking
aptitude that I haven't seen J since.
Like hell, Jeff Goldblum in the fly like,
and again, and Alison Williams is so
good at playing this like horrifically
flawed kind of monster of a human being
Alicia: But isn't this movie basically
saying you're failed as like if you
had any maternal instinct at all, none
of this bad stuff would've happened,
,
Jeremy: I think it's much more, if
you weren't a workaholic, none of
this bad stuff would've happened.
Like if you had taken, if you had taken
the time to like properly move this
child into your home and like gotten
her some toys and not gone directly
back to work, immediately after, like
pulling her out of the hospital face,
still all cut up when you, you know,
Ben: wouldn't say it's, yeah, I wouldn't
say it's like maternal theme, the way
that aliens is explicitly like maternal
themes, like it's maternal by virtue of
Allison Williams is a woman, but I feel
like the overall theme of like how, you
know, cat Cat's in the Cradle Cat Stevens,
like the overall theme of like, don't.
Build a robot to do your
parenting for you like,
Alicia: Wait, can you connect
that to Kat's Cradle Cats
and The Cradle and the Sil?
The Spoon built a robot with
Jeremy: that M3GAN knows.
Ben: Yeah.
This movie kind of has the same
theme as Adam Sandler's click.
Namely, don't use Wondrous Technologies
to skip out on Time with Your Family.
Alicia: Jeremy's gone.
Ben: I lost Jeremy with that one.
Mark.
The time at 10:34 PM
Eastern Standard Time.
June 7th, 2023.
At the moment, we lost Jeremy.
Jeremy: Now that is the film where
Adam Sandler has a remote control
that just controls the universe and
so uses it to have sex with his wife.
Yes.
Ben: No.
Yes.
But then it's also mostly a movie
about how he uses it to skip out
on like his kid's entire lifetime.
And then he gets to be super old and he
is like, wait, this was, what did I do?
This was a super fuck up.
And then the last half hour of the
movie is like ridiculously sad.
Alicia: Never, never watched it.
Ben: It takes a, I gotta tell you about
like last, like Acts three takes a real
fucking tonal shift.
Alicia: did that come out at
the same time as multiplicity?
Jeremy: No,
it's like 10 years apart.
Alicia: Really?
Didn't multiplicity have like a
remote control that he was using to
like skip out on doing things with
his family and then regretted it?
Ben: Yeah, no.
Like Adam Sandler and Click Uses this,
uses the like the magical universe
control remote control to be like, oh.
Thank God I can skip through my
daughter's boring birthday party
and get back to doing office work.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Multiplicity.
He created clones of himself.
So that he could be in more
than one place at once.
And I think then the theme is the same of
like missing out on the important things.
Alicia: and then I guess there's,
that's that Snowman movie too, right?
Ben: Isn't that just like Michael
Keaton died and then comes
Alicia: Yeah.
as as a snowman.
Ben: he has to like, I guess, like
save the spirit of winter break.
Like
Alicia: And isn't there one with
a cat where like some dad dies and
Jeremy: That would be,
Kevin Spacey and that darn cat.
Ben: my recommendation is
Jack Frost starring Michael
is the most terrifying CGI
snowman you've ever fucking
Alicia: Yes.
Yeah, I guess, yeah.
Ben: But no, I, I agree with you Jeremy.
I would consider this movie feminist,
um,
again, if if in the same way.
Malignant is, and just like these
are very, this is a wonderfully
flawed, highly engaging, entertaining,
three dimensional character.
And M3GAN's a fucking icon.
Jeremy: My apologies.
It's not that darn cat.
It's nine lives.
It is Kevin Spacey though.
Alicia: That's good.
Because that darn cat is about a cat.
Like a real cat.
Jeremy: Tom Brand is a billionaire whose
workaholic lifestyle takes him away from
his loving wife, Laura, and adorable
Alicia: Oh, wait, wait.
Isn't that also the story
of Peter, like of hook?
He's all like, I ain't
got time to play with
Ben: to Neverland, he becomes a cat.
Jeremy: Needing a present for Rebecca's
11th birthday brand buys a seemingly
harmless cat from a mysterious pet store.
Suddenly, a bizarre turn of events
drives both Tom inside the animal's body.
Alicia: I like that his name
Ben: I, I miss when movies were
like, Chris Rock got hit by a taxi
and died, but now he gets to come
back to life as a golden retriever
and has only one week to make Kerry
Washington fall in love with him.
Jeremy: The owner of the business tells
him that he has one week to reconnect with
his family or live out the rest of his
days as a cute and furry feline named Mr.
Fuzzy Pants.
Alicia: Isn't that also the
same story as Ghost Dad?
Ben: it's, it's bizarrely recurring trope.
Dad's dying and coming back as things
Alicia: Where does that
fall on the Arn Thompson
Fairytale type?
Ben: also ghost, where Patrick Swayze
died and he came back as Whoopi Goldberg.
Alicia: But he wasn't a dad
Ben: No, that's true.
He was a daddy though.
Yeah.
I had no idea where I was
going when I started that joke,
but I am so glad, I am so
glad with how it turned out.
Alicia: I think you stuck the landing.
Ben: well, I couldn't to
Dino without your help team
Alicia: I so makes the dream look.
So I don't think there's any
queer representation in this film
Jeremy: Yet
Ben: Uh,
Alicia: yet.
Somehow M3GAN
Ben: yet somehow
Alicia: is
Ben: it's for, and yet somehow,
you know, it's for the gays.
This, this one's for the
girls, the theys and the gays.
Alicia: So that's what I'm saying.
Like this movie has culture, even though,
even though there were not that many
black people on screen, even though there
were no queer people explicitly shown on
screen, I still feel like this movie has
like, It's got flavor, it's got seasoning.
You know,
Ben: Well, ACHI, well,
Alicia: can't put my right.
But like I'm saying, like that's
how I knew, like I just watched the
movie and knew before I knew that
she had anything to do with it.
I could feel it.
I don't know, maybe it was the $5 handbag
comment, but something about it was
just like it hit me right in the fields.
Okay.
So
Jeremy: how many straight guys pop
for, you know, titanium, right?
Like when that, when that comes on
in the movie, how many of them are,
how many straight guys watching
are like fucking, yeah, titanium.
Ben: You stand for the national anthem, by
which I mean the Nicole Kidman, a m c A,
Jeremy: What
Alicia: Something magical
about the movie theater.
Jeremy: Is it about this place?
Alicia: what is it about
Ben: spider verse.
It said, I wanna see spider verse.
That's what's magical.
Alicia: I'm looking forward to seeing
Ben: Was fucking sold out in my
local theater all last weekend, so
hopefully this weekend.
Alicia: Let's see.
Ability, did it really talk
about ability, disability?
Ben: No, no.
I mean, I guess it, it is
interesting how it success like
kind of like unhealthy attachments
and a focus on childhood development.
I mean, again, I did bring it up earlier,
but like again, like as much as I love
this movie and it is such a blast to
watch, I do wonder if the, that it
pursues the really independent tracks
of this machine is malfunctioning and
is murderous and that's why it's bad.
And then while also still doing
like this machine's core purpose
is inherently wrong even if it
wasn't malfunctioning and murdering.
And
I
wonder, yeah.
And I wonder if it, as interesting
as that theme is, and as much
as the camp fun definitely just
lends into just the murder ness.
If it doesn't get to fully
explore that theme of like,
this is an unhealthy
attachment no matter what.
Like murderer, no murder.
Alicia: Yeah, absolutely.
Jeremy: Mean, I feel like it says that
it's also sort of preaching to the
choir to an extent that people who are
watching this one, Kind of know that, but
two are also the people who have their
entire houses automated, so, you know.
Ben: Yeah.
Oh, that's just another lesson.
Don't fucking do internet of things.
It's such a goddamn security hazard.
Don't do it.
Fucking adjust your manually.
Adjust your goddamn thermostat.
You'll live.
Jeremy: If we didn't learn that
from Scream or five cream where,
ghost face unlocks all the doors in
the house with the security program
from the
Ben: hugging.
Don't do that.
No.
Internet of things.
Alicia: Yeah.
Ben: And that's, that's, just our
lesson to you, the viewer, the listener.
Alicia: So I guess the last question
is, would you recommend this movie?
Ben: Oh, fuck yeah.
Grab a, you know, open up a six pack,
have some friends over, and just have
yourself an absolute blast of a time
with a wonderfully camp horror
Alicia: I gotta say that like a lot of
times horror movies that are PG 13 are
just not very fun, and they're not ones
that I feel like we can show our kid,
but this was one that like, I felt like
it was perfectly fine for my 12 year
old to watch, and it like straddles the
line of like, Ew, gross, you know, like
horror and scary jump, scary moments,
but it's like fun horror, you know?
I feel like there's so
many things in horror that.
I would not wanna show my 12 year
old because it's just unnecessarily
sexist or unnecessarily just
Ben: I mean,
Alicia: horrifying.
Ben: yeah, you talk about the
tropes that we see way too often.
There is no overt racism in this movie.
There is no overt misogyny in this movie.
Alicia: nudity.
Ben: There's no duty.
There is no sexual harassment
or sexual assault in this movie.
A trope we know
Alicia: Bar too often.
Ben: way
Alicia: Yeah.
It just becomes a shortcut
for this person is horrible.
Like we, this movie manages to show
people being horrible and saying
horrible things in very mundane ways.
Ben: look, here's the deal.
If you're listening there, you're
writing your story, you're a
writer, updated advice, updated
writing tip for the 21st century.
If you want your character
to be unlikable, do not show
them doing sexual assault.
Just show them enjoying capitalism.
Jeremy: Or demanding kombucha,
Ben: Yes.
Jeremy: angrily demanding kombucha.
Ben: Is there any other
way to demand kombucha?
You can't politely demand kombucha.
Just just isn't in the
spirit of the thing.
Alicia: So,
yeah,
so aside from M3GAN,
Ben: Yes.
I will say, I brought it up earlier.
It is completely unrelated, aside
from the presence of that actor.
But I do re, you know, up, so
I make sure I get it right.
Brian Jordan Alvarez.
Wanted to double check,
make sure I had it right.
But it is wonderful.
It is Pride month when
we're recording this.
So it is again, it is gay, it is wondrous.
It is a lot of fun.
It's just a web mini series
that is a heck of a good time.
You can probably watch it all
in an evening and it is just
a delightful little show.
Alicia: nice.
I think in the spirit of picking
things that I can watch with my
kid that are funny and sassy.
The girls and I, and this
one is for younger kids too.
But the six year old, 12 year old
and I have been rewatching dead end
paranormal Park, which is on Netflix.
And if you've never seen
it, I highly recommend.
It's a great series.
About a trans kid who runs away
from home uh, with his dog.
And they get a job at a theme
park where paranormal stuff
happens and shenanigans ensue.
Jeremy: Yeah, the, the two
leads are, you know, a, a.
A gay trans guy and a autistic girl.
So they're pretty great.
All right.
Alicia: Yeah.
Jeremy: What I'm gonna recommend
is uh, also on Netflix.
It is a movie called The
Perfection which also stars.
Our, our good friend Alison Williams who
plays a sort of musician who has if I
remember correctly, lost an arm in this
story and sort of been cast aside by
the brilliant musician teacher who was
Training her to be the, the next sort of
big thing and sort of gets involved with
the, the girl he is currently training.
And it very quickly escalates into
a into a horror situation giving,
talking much more about it than that.
It gives stuff away.
But uh, again, it is pride.
That is another gay horror movie with
Alison Williams and is definitely,
very disturbing if you have issues with
bugs, especially maybe pass on this one.
But it's very uh, messed up and
fun as, as horror movies go.
Alicia: Sounds cool.
Ben: Yeah.
Jeremy: Yeah, that was one of,
one of a whole bunch I watched
back during, you know, scary
movie month a couple years ago.
I guess, Alicia, do you want to let
people know where they can find out
more about you or what you do online?
Alicia: No.
Ben: Well, there
Jeremy: mean,
Alicia: Just kidding.
You can find me on Twitter at Alicia
Whitley, but I don't tweet very much.
And that's probably the best
way to find out what I'm doing.
I'm mostly talking about education and
weird videos that I make Jeremy watch.
Did I come across on Instagram?
Jeremy: she doesn't tweet much and
doesn't wanna tell you where to follow
her, but she does occasionally update
me on how many followers she has.
Alicia: It's
Jeremy: She does occasionally go, A lot
of people don't follow me on Twitter.
I wish more people followed me
Alicia: and I, and then
Jeremy: but you don't tweet anything.
And you, when I ask you where people,
if you wanna tell people where
they find you, you, say no.
Alicia: And that's, I I gave an answer.
Jeremy: As for the rest of us,
you can find Emily at Mega Moth on
Twitter and mega underscore moth
on Instagram and@megamoth.net.
Ben is on Twitter at ben Lahan and
on their website@benconcomics.com,
where you can pick up all their
books, including pre pre-ordering.
El Campbell wins their weekend, their
debut middle grade novel from Scholastic.
And for me, you can find me on Twitter
and Instagram at Jro five eight and
on my website@jeremywhitley.com where
you can check out everything I write.
And you can also go buy
the Dog Knight right now.
It's great.
It's out Breen to go Drew it.
You know them from this podcast as well.
Go buy that if you haven't already.
You can't pre-order Dashing School
for Wayward Princess yet, but
some point you will be able to.
Ben and I wrote that
together and it's great.
And we can't wait to
share that with y'all.
It finally got announced so we
can finally say that on here.
Ben: Yeah, it's,
oh, it's exciting.
We made a book, we made a podcast.
Now we made a book.
Jeremy: Absolutely.
That's it for us.
If you want to get in contact with
us, hit us up at Prague Horror Pod on
Twitter, or you can go to our journal,
Patreon progressively horrified.
speaking of loving to hear from you, we
would love it if you'd rate and review
this podcast wherever you're listening.
That helps find new listeners when
you give us five star ratings.
Thanks again to all of you for
joining us, and thank you so much
to Alicia for actually coming to
this side of the mic for this week.
Alicia: No problem.
Jeremy: And thank you to all of
you for the, I already said that.
Until next time, stay horrified.
Clap.