In “Subservience”, Megan Fox Does M3gan (And A Few Other Things) | Review

01/20/2025 editor 0 Comments

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking over countless areas of our lives, for better or worse. As with many other vital revolutions in the past, horror movies are joining in and addressing these changes critically. You know what that means. In recent years, we have seen quite a few films in which artificial intelligence promises to make our lives easier, but in reality, it is dangerous, develops malicious intentions, and even kills.

Artificial intelligence can take many forms: from smart home systems (like the mediocre “Margaux,” Blumhouse’s “Afraid,” and “House/Wife” with Alice Braga) to android robots for children (the horror hit “Megan,” or even the unnecessary remake of Chucky) to sexy female robots that look like Megan Fox. Yes, like in “Subservience,” a likable and occasionally fun film that could have even had cult potential if it had only dared a little more.

The Next Generation Of Sexy Female Robots

“Subservience” was directed by S.K. Dale, who worked with Megan Fox on the enjoyable “Till Death” from 2021. The screenplay was written by Will Honley (“Bloodline,” “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions,” and “Blood”) and the relatively unknown April Maguire.

If we summarize the plot here, we could argue that we have been in such a movie, kind of, not long ago – for example, in the horror hit “Megan” – but in this case, everything is supposed to go in a sexier and more mature direction. Here is the trailer of “Subservience”, to get you in the right mood:

“Subservience” occurs in the very near future, when humanity has developed brilliant humanoid android robots. They perform various tasks such as cleaning, childcare, communication, bookkeeping, and probably more sexual acts. Nick (Michele Morrone from Netflix’s erotic “365 Days” films) is a construction foreman at a company that threatens to replace its workforce with robots. His personal life is far from perfect. His wife Maggie (Madeline Zima, “The Collector,” “Californication,” “Heroes”) suffers from an unspecified heart condition. She is in tangible danger of dying – unless they can find a donor within a short time. Nick tries to raise two children almost single-handedly: Isla (the young Matilda Firth, which we can see now in “Wolf Man”) and another baby, who mostly cries in the movie because that’s what babies do.

Nick buys a robot while his wife is hospitalized to help him with the housework. Thanks to his daughter’s love of lasagna and his attraction as a man to sexy lasagna in the form of women, he chooses an advanced android Sim (Megan Fox, of course). His daughter gives her the name “Alice” because she is obsessed with “Alice in Wonderland” for some reason. By the way, in Russia, they decided to change the character’s name in the dubbing to “Megan” to ride on that robotic character’s success.

A Typical nanny movie, with a twist AI. From “Subservience” (Rialto Distribution)

Subservience Plot: Like Evil Nanny Movies, Only With AI

Alice turns out to be the ultimate helper, one who can make lasagna (but not like mom’s!), saves the girl when she does naughty things, promises to fix the broken things in the house, and so on. She is the perfect addition to any home or every man, considering she looks like Megan Fox.

But at a certain point, we realize that Alice is not as innocent as she seems, thanks in part to an unclear software change also attributed to the masterpiece “Casablanca.”

The narrative structure of the film is very reminiscent of an evil babysitter or nanny movies, some of which we reviewed on the site: a nanny with cruel intentions, whether at the starting point or following an inevitable change, who, at a certain point thinks about replacing a particular character in the family and eliminating anyone who might get in her way, or endanger the man who bought her.

From the plot description and the trailer, you can already understand who “The Perfect Nanny” wants to replace this time, and she is aware that the way there sometimes also goes through the bedroom. Or should we say the bathroom, because our Nick has a hard time conquering his desires when Alice exposes herself in front of him while he is showering, because after all, this is fucking Megan Fox, and a guy who, throughout three “365 Days” films, has probably spent many hot love scenes with Polish actresses.

So Nick fails to meet the ultimate loyalty test of saying no to Megan Fox, whether as a human or a robot. This has many implications and criticisms of our lives in the 21st century when we are always looking for the perfect and unsatisfied with what we have.

Megan fox and Michele Morrone in Subservience — “Don’t look back, brother, but Megan Fox is behind you”. From Subservience (Rialto Distribution)

Is Megan Fox A Product Of Artificial Intelligence?

The decision to cast Megan Fox in the lead role is interesting; some might even say self-conscious. Fox is, without a doubt, one of the sexiest actresses in Hollywood in recent decades, whose body has even earned her film (we are referring, of course, to “Jennifer’s Body”). One could perhaps see “Subservience” as a somewhat reflexive film because Megan Fox’s body – sorry, Alice, the artificially intelligent gynoid – looks like someone created it with the help of an AI image creator.

Megan Fox is also an actress who receives a lot of criticism, not always justified: for her mediocre acting skills, the bad films she has been a part of, the changes in appearance resulting from (possibly) plastic surgery, her scandal-ridden personal life, and the provocative photos that adorn her social profiles. One could see the casting, or Fox’s performance, as a response to some of this criticism. What could be a better answer to those who claimed that her face had become expressionless due to surgery, supposedly or not, than playing an expressionless robot? And isn’t a robot character an excellent casting for those who said that her acting in the “Transformers” films, for example, is more robotic than Optimus Prime?

In a way that may surprise some of the detractors, I think that Megan Fox is not a bad actress at all, who has taken part in several significant horror films. In “Subservience,” she plays a successful role, which is precisely suitable for her (very impressive, important to note) physical dimensions, but not only.

“Is your father an image creator? Cause you look like a perfect picture made with AI”. Megan Fox in Subservience (Rialto Distribution)

Too Solid To Be A Cult Film

What is accurate, not precisely because of Fox’s fault, is that “Subservience” misses the potential to become a cult. I was sure before the viewing that the film would include direct references to M3gan like we will get to see Fox in a sensual dance that references that iconic dance of the android Mean before she uses some phallic symbol and cuts off a hapless man’s private part. Or even demonstrate the singing abilities of the adult version of Sia, whoever the hell she is.

The film’s social critique is alive but solid as well. The fear, quite justified, in many fields is that artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies will replace humans. This change is already happening in many fields, and the great fear in Hollywood is that the status of some filmmakers will be undermined: in fact, this is one of the main reasons for the significant strikes we have seen in recent months. On the other hand, some will argue that technology can shorten processes and improve results and that a human being who succeeds in using it for his own needs can flourish in his work.

“Subservience” refers to these issues, and it is easy to see which side of the debate it is on. Beyond whether an advanced robot can replace a woman – in managing family life and in bed – there is a subplot here, which takes up a large part of the screen time. Nick himself has avoided firing, but apart from him, the rest of the company’s employees are being replaced by robots. We get a relatively modest scene of robot destruction, perhaps because the budget here is low in advance, and one disgruntled employee who got fired blames Nick for that.

Megan Fox in Subservience — Will AI robots replace us? Megan Fox in Subserviece (Rialto Distribution)

How much does this contribute to the film? My opinion is divided. On the one hand, the film lost momentum in some of the scenes related to Nick’s workplace, and it might have been better to stick to the tension that builds in his family unit. The criticism here exists, but it is not too innovative, and you can hear the same claims in various ways in our reality and cinema. Don’t expect a sophisticated and classic criticism of the entry of machines into our world here, like in Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times,” which is soon to be 90 years old.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence is important enough to be addressed in Hollywood, which has become accustomed to dealing with issues on the agenda. The treatment of these issues does not seem too disconnected because it certainly fits into the family and work life of the film. The plot also connects at a certain point when that guy arrives to confront Nick. If you have seen similar films, you will quickly understand where this is going and which side of Alice we will see.

The Perfect Woman Is Already There

“Subservience” is far from a perfect film, but it is well made for most parts. The plot, acting, cinematography, and dialogues are mostly “okay,” not exemplary, but also far from terrible. In a film of this type, we naturally look for something that will stand out and make it memorable, and sometimes even one scene can help with that. Unfortunately, the film did not include scenes that would stay with me, and I forgot most of it a few hours after watching it.

The actors are all doing their job: Megan Fox is a sexy robot with minimal facial expressions (rightly so this time!), Michele Morrone plays the tormented and sexually closed man in a performance that was solid at most but seemed a bit uneven to me.

The one who steals the show in my eyes, and not for the first time, is Madeline Zima, an actress with much more talent and potential than her reasonable career could show. Zima began her career at seven in the horror thriller “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” as a girl whose family is in danger thanks to a revenge mission by her supposed nanny. She broke into television around the same time as one of the girls in the successful sitcom “The Nanny” with Fran Drescher, which is about a working-class Jewish woman who finds herself the nanny of a wealthy man in Manhattan. So it’s hard to argue that “Subservience” is a closing of the circle for the 39-year-old actress, who is still busy in television and film. Still, there’s something ironic about her current role that is very reminiscent of the first film in its plot: as the mother of a family dealing with a psychotic nanny, this time because she’s a robot with some programming glitches.

Several decades after her big break, she’s still an actress who hasn’t realized her talent and, unfortunately, hasn’t made enough horror films to become an icon. It’s a shame. Zima creates a human character here, unlike, of course, thousands of differences from Alice. The script is likely aiming for this, but the character’s acting skills and understanding help Zima achieve the goal relatively quickly. She evokes sympathy and concern for her situation, shows vulnerability but also toughness when it’s needed, is responsible for the film’s few moments of humor (for example, an excellent joke about the posters in the child’s room), and also goes through a specific process of development.

Madeline Zima in Subservience — Steals the show again. Madeline Zima in “Subservience” (Rialto Distribution)

The Bottom Line: A Film That’s Too Routine, Unfortunately

“Subservience” is an enjoyable, predictable, and a bit formulaic film. We get a robotic character who seduces the man and kills a few people in the process, but not in a way that’s too memorable. The script is plausible and doesn’t look like the product of artificial intelligence, but I feel there is much greater potential here. It seems to have broken far fewer boundaries than it could have, for example, in terms of sexuality and violence.

One of my main complaints about the film is that it simply plays it too safe. There are a few sex scenes, but it’s hard to argue that they’re particularly memorable or even close to expressing the erotic potential created by the encounter between these two hot actors, which was a significant part of the film’s marketing (the tagline on the film’s poster is “Don’t turn her on”). In fact, it’s Nick’s sex scene with Madeline Zima as his sympathetic, damaged wife was better and hotter, at least in my opinion. This could be intentional because the film suggests that human relationships (and sex) should include some emotion. It hints in the second part that Alice will go in that direction, too, without spoilers.

“Subservience” includes violence in its second part, but it’s very subtle and certainly not as iconic as some other films we’ve mentioned. If you were expecting violent scenes of beheadings with office or household equipment or even a few cheap jump jumps, you could rest assured. You can define the film as a horror film in terms of plot and general atmosphere, but it is a very “soft” horror.

There is humor here, mainly thanks to Madeline Zima, but the film takes itself too seriously most of the time. It could quickly have been taken in crazier directions in this respect as well. They could have made the film more meaningful, or even Alice herself as a character with iconic potential. It is also difficult here not to compare the character to the robotic Megan, who many would argue is on the sure path to becoming a cult, with a very long list of products based on her.

Will Subservience Get A Sequel?

“Subservience” was launched for digital viewing in September and recently arrived on Netflix. It was produced on a relatively small budget of about $4 million, receiving a refund of about a quarter of the amount from the National Film Association of Bulgaria (the film itself was shot in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria). The film was released in a minimal number of countries and, till now, has grossed just over a quarter of a million dollars. As for streaming, it may receive many views, increasing its financial profit. Under these conditions, it is difficult to determine its economic success, and time will tell whether it will become a memorable film, much more than it was, at least for me, during the viewing.

In other words, it is difficult to believe that there will be a film here that will become a cult, unlike perhaps Megan, even if the ending – and the fact that it is a not bad film at all – do suggest that there may be a sequel. S.K. Dale himself claimed in September that he is interested in developing a sequel, which will further develop the evolution of artificial intelligence. We’re content with an enjoyable film that pushes the boundaries in cinematic production, story, violence, sex, humor, or whatever. Don’t forget that, after all, we’re talking about a robot with Megan Fox’s body that turns evil and wants to enter the family unit.

In an age of artificial intelligence, where people can make routine creations easily with a click of a button and a few spare seconds, we need to invest more thought, art, and creativity into content that will be truly memorable.