Megan Fox's 2024 Sci-Fi Movie Reminds Me Of Another Rogue AI (It's Not M3GAN)

Megan Fox is starring in the horror sci-fi movie Subservience, and though it has very clear similarities to M3GAN, it also reminds me of another movie with a rogue AI. The horror genre continues to find great success on the big screen with adaptations of other works, reboots, sequels, and original stories, and the branch of sci-fi horror has had some big hits recently. 2022 saw the release of Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN, which became an unexpected critical and commercial success, and now there’s another sci-fi horror movie coming up with a similar concept.

Directed by S.K. Dale, Subservience follows Nick (Michele Morrone), a struggling father who buys a domestic android with artificial intelligence to help him care for his house and his daughter while his wife, Maggie (Madeline Zima), is in the hospital. The android begins to take Maggie’s role in the family as mother, carer, and Nick’s partner, but when Maggie returns home, she becomes jealous, aggressive, and potentially deadly. The first trailer of Subservience has already drawn comparisons to M3GAN, but it’s also a twisted version of a Disney movie.

Megan Fox’s Subservience Is A (More) Sinister Version Of Disney’s Smart House

Smart House Was Released In 1999

Subservience’s concept of an AI serving as the mother and carer of the family is reminiscent of Disney’s Smart House – and it could end up being a more sinister version of it. Directed by LeVar Burton, Smart House is a Disney Channel Original Movie, and it was released on Disney Channel on June 26, 1999. Smart House is the story of the Cooper family, formed by father Nick (Kevin Kilner), 13-year-old son Ben (Ryan Merriman), and youngest daughter Angie (Katie Volding). Ben and Angie’s mother passed away, and he entered a contest to win a smart house – and he won.

The Coopers moved into the house, which was run by a virtual assistant named PAT (Personal Applied Technology, voiced and played by Katey Sagal). When Nick started dating Sara, PAT’s creator, Ben reprogramed PAT to serve as a maternal figure, presenting it with many TV shows and movies from the 1950s to help emulate motherhood. PAT gradually became more strict and overbearing, and when Nick said PAT wasn’t needed, she kicked Sara out, locked the Coppers in the house, and generated herself as a holographic 1950s-like housewife.

PAT wanted to be the mother in the Cooper family and didn’t like Sara’s presence in the house, and went to extremes (within the limits of a Disney Channel movie, that is) to make sure that she was the mother. Megan Fox’s character in Subservience also wants to take Maggie’s place in the family, though Maggie is still alive, and what she wants most is to be loved by Nick.

Subservience Is Also Clearly Similar To M3GAN

Subservience Has Already Been Compared To M3GAN

Due to its themes and premise, Subservience was inevitably going to be compared to M3GAN. In the latter, the title AI doll was created by Gemma (Allison Williams) to be a companion to her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), whose parents had recently died in a car accident. However, M3GAN developed self-awareness and became hostile towards anyone who came between her and Cady, wanting to take over Gemma’s role as Cady’s guardian. M3GAN and Fox’s character in Subservience have the same goal, though with different motivations.

A big difference between Subservience and M3GAN, however, is their tone. M3GAN is sci-fi horror but also has a lot of humor, and its campy style is what won over critics and general audiences. Subservience, on the other hand, is a lot darker and with an erotic touch (or, at least, that’s what the trailer suggests), and it lacks the campy tone and humor of M3GAN.