Directed By: Steven C. Miller
Starring: Madison Pettis, Richard Harmon, Vanessa Morgan
Plot Summary: A group of college friends rent a smart house for a weekend of partying. Later, they start to realize that Margaux, the house’s super advanced AI system, has sinister designs for them.
If the premise of an A.I. taking over a house and wreaking havoc sounds familiar, it’s probably because, to quote South Park, “The Simpsons did it.” Indeed, The Simpsons Halloween anthology series Treehouse of Terror XII segment entitled House of Whacks features a smart house hell bent on murder. Sadly, unlike House of Whacks, the smart house in Margaux is not voiced by Pierce Brosnan. All jokes aside, the idea of an advanced tech-environment turning on its guests is nothing new. In fact, the aforementioned Simpsons episode drew a lot of inspiration from Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey. Also, the highly underrated film Demon Seed also explores a similar premise.
Margaux, however, takes a very modern spin on this concept. The results are mixed at best. But, let’s talk about some good things first. Thankfully, the movie has a playful tone; for as earnest as it plays things, you always get the feeling that the filmmakers are always in on the gag. While this doesn’t act as a shield for clunky writing (more on that later), having this cheeky self-aware attitude does help smooth over some rough spots. The A.I. didn’t have to be as sassy as it was, but I am all the more extremely grateful that it is. There is some really clever world building in terms of what this house can do, which I found to be pretty engaging at times.
Margaux does aim for some provocative talking points about data-mining for profit and how exposed we are when all of our lives are so accessible. The thing is, it never takes these themes far enough to be truly effective. The net result is tired talking points about Internet privacy and status-hungry influencers. This is then haphazardly folded into a horror movie without the finely tuned razor-sharp satirical wit to give it an edge.
While we are talking about its themes, this is yet another movie that feels like it was written by an older writer to take easy shots at Gen Z. More specifically, it takes umbrage with women using their agency to market themselves online as influencers. This is a really tired trope which feels like lazy writing at best and at worst a bit sexist and reductive. Follow Her is a great recent movie which tackles this issue in a more interesting way. The lead is by no means a saint, but the movie never outright judges her field, just the moral choices she makes. Outside of this, Margaux is painfully predictable at times and you can already guess the outcome fairly early on. The movie does throw a few curveballs but again just misses the mark in terms of a refreshing take on the material.
You may think that I hate this movie. However, at the end of the day, damned if I didn’t dig on it anyways. Margaux is never boring with enough bonkers moments to keep me engaged. The kills are wonderfully over-the-top in the vein of a Final Destination outing, which I think would go over nicely with a crowd of like-minded fans. Add some sardonic humor to the mix, and well, you still have a flawed film, but a very watchable one at least. This is by no means high art, but if you go in wanting a bit of pulpy, trashy mindless fun, Margaux is certainly that. After all, I can rightly point out a movies issues but still overall find it an enjoyable watch.
Margaux will be available on Digital platforms beginning Friday, September 9th, courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.
