There are two versions Gerard Johnstone's M3GAN; an original version an an unrated cut, with some pretty extreme differences between them.
For horror fans who enjoyed M3GAN in theaters, M3GAN Unrated offers a different take on the iconic killer robot's escapades. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, it follows a desperate scientist specializing in AI technology and its applications named Gemma (Allison Williams) who must protect her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) from her latest creation; a self-aware AI companion intended for children that suddenly goes haywire. In order to achieve its PG-13 rating, the movie went through a number of reshoots which forced the camera to cut away at the goriest of times, or reduce certain language, all of which has found its way into an unrated version of the box office hit.
Fortunately, both the original and unrated versions of M3GAN are available to stream on Peacock, giving fans the chance to compare the special cut developed by Johnstone alongside screenwriter Akela Cooper. While some horror fans will gravitate towards the more extreme version, there's an argument to be made for the "less is more" approach, particularly for those who don't wish to see every detail of a gruesome kill or hear explicit language. As fans eagerly await updates about M3GAN 2.0's story and release date, they can entertain themselves by spotting all the differences between the two versions of this instant horror classic.
8 M3GAN Unrated's Viral Dance Scene Deaths Are Different
M3GAN's iconic dance segment in the unrated version features not only some killer moves by the life-like doll, but some grisly death scenes as well. David still gets murdered the same way as the original movie in the bottom section of Funki HQ, but the kill involves a much larger blood splatter when M3GAN shoves the slicing blade from the copy machine through his chest. His skittish assistant Kurt (Stephane Garneau-Monten) gets David's blood all over him in the elevator right before his throat is slit. M3GAN sings, dances, and kills in a lot of great sequences but the viral dance scene is made even better by more brutality.
7 M3GAN Unrated Has More Explicit Language Than The Original
Aside from much more gore, M3GAN Unrated has a lot more explicit language, particularly from certain angry characters like Gemma's boss David (Ronny Chieng) and Brandon the bully at Cady's camp (Jack Cassidy), and even M3GAN has one F-bomb towards the movie's big climax. The strong language, while not damming on its own, does make the characters seem more aggressive, and thus their demises slightly more satisfying. By contrast, the PG-13 version only has one use of foul language, and that's just given to Brandon to make him seem like the more edgy and moody of the kids.
6 M3GAN Killing The Bully Is Much Grosser In The Unrated Version
Just like in the case of Kurt and David, Brandon still gets killed in M3GAN Unrated, but his death scene is a lot grosser. After chasing the bully through the woods on all fours, M3GAN reaches down and rips his ear from the side of his screaming face just before he gets hit by a speeding car, but this time the shot lingers on M3GAN and her bloody prize. This scene makes her character seem not only bloodthirsty, but oddly curious about the human capacity for pain, as well as sadistic in a serial-killer sort of way.
5 Celia's Pressure Washer Scene Is More Graphic In M3GAN Unrated
The scene that involves M3GAN dealing with nosy neighbor Celia via pressure washer gets a more intense finale in M3GAN Unrated. Just like poor Brandon, Celia's mutilation gets a close up as M3GAN uses her own household tool to erode the skin on her cheeks like a liquid cheese grater. The unrated version doesn't, however, solve the mystery of what exactly happened to Celia's energetic dog Dewey, which M3GAN is perceived to kill off-screen for accidentally biting Cady and sending the doll into a homicidal rage.
4 There's More CGI In M3GAN Unrated
While a great deal of the effects in both versions of M3GAN are practical — especially the intricately made versions of M3GAN herself that are part robot, part puppet — there's more CGI in the unrated movie. This is because some of the gorier kills required a lot more blood during production, and setting up scenes involving that much blood take after take was difficult to do on a tight schedule with a limited budget. Ironically, even on a small-budget horror movie like M3GAN, CGI solves that problem by being cheaper in the long run when it comes to upping the intensity factor of a death scene without wasting time.
3 M3GAN Unrated's Runtime Is Slightly Shorter
As it turns out, even with the extra gore added to the unrated M3GAN it winds up being slightly shorter than its PG-13 counterpart, with the theatrical version clockng in at 1:41:56 and the uncut version running at 1:41:50. That's because were more intensity was added to some of the death scenes, other scenes were made a little bit shorter to compensate. As Johnstone found during his reshoots, choosing what to keep and what to cut must still adhere to keeping the pace of the movie, and not convoluting the storyline too much when style is exchanged for substance, or even shock value.
2 The Original M3GAN Relies More On Suggestion
Since it doesn't have the same extensive death scenes, the original M3GAN has to rely on the power of suggestion. In horror movies like the original Alien or Jaws, sometimes seeing less of the monster and its kills makes it more terrifying and creepy. When left up to their imaginations, audiences will often fill in the gaps of what they don't see on-screen with some of the most horrible and grotesque fates imaginable off-screen, and the PG-13 version of M3GAN allows that to happen by cutting away from the brutality of a scene right when it could deliver its big payoff (like when the dog dies).
1 M3GAN Unrated Turns A Psychological Thriller Into A Slasher
Part of the beauty of the original M3GAN is that it also functions as a psychological horror movie by exploring provocative questions brought about by the introduction of AI, its progress with the trajectory of technology for humankind, as well as its scientific limitations. It also examines both AI and humanity's failings, hubris through Gemma's opportunistic boss, as well as the inherent fears associated with an artificial entity possibly outsmarting its creators. Some of these themes are negated with M3GAN Unrated, which can often feel like a moody, psychological sci-fi thriller becoming a slasher movie during its more graphic scenes.
