Fridge / M3GAN

Fridge Brilliance

• Why does M3GAN run on all fours while chasing Brandon? It's because roboticists haven't been able to figure out how to make a robot run at high speeds while in the bipedal position. Alternatively, she may be actually mimicking a dog's run. And where would she get first-hand knowledge of a dog's locomotion? Celia's pet, Dewey.
  • This also may explain why M3GAN power walks while chasing David through the hallway. That may be as fast as she can go without dropping to all fours.
• M3GAN singing Cady "Titanium" is not only a sweet moment, but considering the lyrics ("Bulletproof, nothing to lose...You shoot me down, but I won't fall, I am titanium"), it foreshadows the doll's survival at the end despite Gemma and Cady's attempts to destroy her.
  • Her other song, "Tell Me Your Dreams" also promises the same thing, saying she'll never be "very far".
  • Earlier in the film, Gemma's promo reel for M3GAN mentioned a titanium endoskeleton, so it could be a Call-Back to the fact that M3GAN literally is titanium.
• M3GAN making plans that work short-term but fall apart later, such as murdering Brandon or planning to render Gemma a vegetable, reflect that she's functionally a child who's still learning. While she's incredibly intelligent, Gemma provided her functionally zero support or direction and just expected her to figure things out on her own (which M3GAN even called her out on).
• Given that M3GAN would have retailed for $10,000, the dolls would only be affordable for the wealthiest of parents, the exact kinds of people who might not have as much time to spend with their kids as they would like, making it especially attractive to give their kids a "friend" who can also offer guidance.
• If one assumes Lydia survives after she walks out of the movie, why did M3GAN not kill her after she made Cady cry, like she did to everyone else who hurt Cady or indirectly caused her stress? Well, all the onscreen victims have two things in common: lack of repentance and not doing anything to make it right. Lydia makes it clear her hurting Cady's feelings was an accident, and hands Cady a tissue. That may have been enough to satisfy M3GAN that Lydia didn't mean any harm and didn't need to die in order for Cady to be safe.
• M3GAN's dance scene is foreshadowed just slightly by a brief shot, during a montage, where M3GAN and Cady are doing a simple synchronized dance together. This at least hints at where she picked up dancing, if not why she decided to do so right then... unless it was just to mess with David before going after him.
  • M3GAN's dance leads directly into her grabbing the paper cutter's blade. It's possible she was just trying to confuse or disarm David while getting into range to grab a weapon.
  • M3GAN also learned the tactic from Gemma (and later is quick to both shrug off and mock), where the latter distracted her into looking at a pen while getting close enough to shut M3GAN down.
  • Another factor behind the dance is that M3GAN is a toy whose main purpose is to entertain her primary user. Thus, she is undoubtedly programmed with a sense of showmanship. This explains not only the dance, but her singing to Cady and the galloping sounds she plays when chasing Brandon.
• After putting M3GAN on ice, Gemma suggests that she get Cady a Purrpetual Pet, and Cady's reaction is scathing, including a (for Cady) Precision F-Strike. On the surface, a kid who's played with a possibly sapient android like M3GAN would certainly be disappointed at downgrading to the Purrpetual Petz seen at the beginning. However, Cady's reaction is also probably based on the fact that, despite Purrpetual Petz being promoted as invincible — living longer than their owners — her Pet failed to live up to its promise and survive the accident. And then, delving even deeper beneath the surface, you realize that her Pet's non-survival would serve as a reminder of just who else didn't survive the accident!

Fridge Horror

• Kurt had been stealing secrets from his company, and was likely the reason why Funki's rivals were able to produce cheaper knock-offs of their products. He had succeeded in copying M3GAN's data files. It's very likely he has already sold those files to another company (or even multiple)... which means there's potentially a whole legion of M3GAN duplicate dolls being made!
• The police detective questioning Gemma mentions that Brandon's death is now considered a homicide, and that the police found his ear nearby. He catches himself laughing after addressing that detail. It would suggest that Brandon already had a history with the police and they weren't able to hold him accountable for his actions. The reason why the detective found the discovery of Brandon's severed ear to be funny is because it seemed to him that someone finally "disciplined" the bully, which the boy's mother clearly did not.
  • Just before Cady calls out to Gemma for help, Brandon's mother was talking about how behavioral issues are linked to high I.Q., which means she was enabling his behavior because she thought it would foster intelligence. Or worse, that she knows he's displaying signs of being a sociopath and doesn't see it as a problem.
• Although M3GAN's doll body has been destroyed by Gemma and Cady, it is implied the AI survived because she uploaded her consciousness into her creator's virtual assistant device (as the device turns on by itself to observe the aunt and niece leaving the home). Considering that M3GAN has demonstrated the ability to control any electronic/electric devices remotely... she is practically immortal!
• When M3GAN kills Dewey, it is off-screen, but there is evidence that it may not have been a quick kill. When M3GAN is luring Celia to her doom, she uses what the captioning characterizes as "distressed whimpering", which she no doubt recorded. Just what did M3GAN do to Dewey to elicit those sounds? Second, we know M3GAN likes to "play" with her victims, such as making galloping sounds when she's chasing Brandon, her dance before killing David, and her Evil Gloating before killing Kurt and attempting to lobotomize Gemma. No doubt, when killing Dewey, M3GAN took her time and had some "fun" with the dog first.
• While not as horrific as some of the examples, still not good: Gemma's idea to build possibly sapient androids as toys for children is very short-sighted. She has invented an android with the body of a nine-year-old that permanently pairs with a child and, under ordinary circumstances, should never break down. There are two possible outcomes: 1) The child eventually outgrows their android companion, giving rise to the question of the android's reaction and fate. Even if M3GAN functioned as intended, with no murderous tendencies, this isn't a good outcome for her. (Think David in A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.) 2) The android is such a lifelike, engaging companion that, as Lydia warned, the child is unable to outgrow her and, consequently, unable to mature. (Think Ted only Played for Drama).
• Gemma and Cady may have destroyed M3GAN for the time being and grown closer as a result of all that's happened, but Cady will surely have more trauma to deal with after all this and M3GAN still left plenty of carnage in her wake, which will no doubt tarnish the toy company's name (if not put them out of business altogether). It's also bound to spell an end to Gemma's robotics career and destroy her reputation, as she'll surely be forever branded as "the roboticist who created a toy that went crazy and killed a bunch of people", leaving her without an income to support herself and Cady.
  • And that's the optimistic outcome. Given that Gemma signed a contract that spelled out how she was the most important person in charge of M3GAN's production, it's entirely possible that the company would use that to throw her under the bus in regards to the inevitable court case that comes about due to the deaths caused by M3GAN. It wouldn't be entirely out of line either, as Gemma made bad decisions in the development of the AI and took a hands-off approach to M3GAN once she was up and running. And if she treats a robotic child like that, then what's stopping the courts from assuming she'd be similarly cold and distant towards her human charge (which she very much was in the beginning)? Cady could very well wind up down in Jacksonville after all, her life being upheaved once again while Gemma winds up with either massive lawsuits or jail time.