M3GAN Is Terrifying Even While Delivering a Movie Theater PSA

There’s nothing more annoying than a moviegoer who can’t stay off their phone—and there’s nothing more terrifying than M3GAN, title star of next year’s killer-doll sci-fi horror tale, which is already at the top of our must-see list for 2023. What happens when these two antagonists meet? Imminent bloodbath!

At least that’s what this new PSA from the Alamo Drafthouse—a chain noted for its zero-tolerance policy regarding phone use during movies—would have you believe. And frankly, while we haven’t even seen M3GAN in action beyond the James Wan-produced film’s trailers, we believe this warning is to be heeded. Or else.

Get ‘em, Meggie!

In case you’ve yet to learn more about our favorite new horror icon, here’s the official description of the movie: “M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma (Get Out’s Allison Williams), M3GAN can listen and watch and learn as she becomes friend and teacher, playmate and protector, for the child she is bonded to. When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned eight-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House), Gemma’s unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems—a decision that will have unimaginable consequences.”

Produced by James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious) and Blumhouse (Halloween, The Black Phone, The Invisible Man), and directed by Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) from a script by Akela Cooper (Malignant), M3GAN arrives in theaters—shhhhhhh!—on January 6.

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