‘Welcome home’
Margaux is a 2022 American sci-fi horror film about a super-advanced AI system that preys on a group of partying teens.
Directed by Steven C. Miller (Line of Duty; Escape Plan 2: Hades; First Kill; Arsenal; Marauders; Extraction; Submerged; Silent Night; Under the Bed; The Aggression Scale; Scream of the Banshee) from a screenplay co-written by Chris Beyrooty, Chris Sivertson, and Nick Waters. Produced by Jamie Goehring, Brad Krevoy, Mick MacKay.
The movie features Madison Pettis (He’s All That), Vanessa Morgan (Riverdale), Richard Harmon (The 100), Lochlyn Munro (Totally Killer; Cosmic Sin; Initiation; Broil; Jurassic Predator: Xtinction; Penance), Jedidiah Goodacre, Phoebe Miu, Jordan Buhat, Brittany Mitchell and Louis Lay.
Plot synopsis:
What Margaux wants, she gets. As a group of seniors celebrate their final college days at a smart house, the house’s highly advanced Artificial Intelligence system, called “Margaux”, begins to take on a deadly presence of her own. A carefree weekend of partying turns into a dystopian nightmare as they realise Margaux’s plans to eliminate her tenants one way or another. Time begins to run out as they desperately try to survive and outsmart the ‘smart home’.
Release date:
In the US, Margaux was released On-Demand (VOD) by Paramount Pictures on September 9, 2022 (click for same-day releases). Rent or buy via Amazon
Our view:
There will be some horror snobs who are snotty about Margaux but besides a few dodgy CGI effects and the bonkers premise (though that’s always welcome, surely?) it’s great fun and the good-looking cast is all in for it. Highly recommended trash.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES & MANIA
Other reviews:
“Look, I’m going to love any movie that starts with a man’s head violently exploding in the face of his girlfriend, showering her in chunks and blood. Maybe the rest of the film doesn’t live up to that quite literally in your face — in her face? — ending, but if you liked the 90s and 00s trend of slashers that put pretty WB teens against killers, well…this is definitely for you.” B&S About Movies
“Margaux gets sinister, setting up kill scenes with the characters, who have no idea what’s going on, lured into situations of comfort. The writing does well with scenes of horror, working with the house’s surprises and evil intent, offering some commentary on the casual ways of online exposure in the digital age. Matters of the heart between Drew and Hannah isn’t as interesting…” 7 out of 10, Blu-ray.com
“Margaux has a similar mentality to 90’s-tech-horror films like Brainscan or, probably more on the nose, Ghost in the Machine, both films act as morality tales that drive that this “new tech” proves that it may be best to unplug every once and a while. By the end of the film, the film feels like a carnival funhouse that maybe wasn’t worth the number of tickets you redeemed for it.” 3 out of 5, Destroy the Brain!
” …some of the CG smart home effects are a little wonky looking (particularly the robot arms). That had me wishing Miller had opted for a less grandiose depiction of the AI technology in a couple of sequences. However, the death and gore scenes are absolutely phenomenal and rather imaginative. Ultimately, Margaux is a fun time…” 3.5 out of 5, Dread Central
“Horror, like all storytelling, should be an iterative process, building on the achievements of what came before and remixing familiar ingredients into something new. But as much as the serial-killing AI claims to champion the need for evolution, the only idea this twisty home invasion flick inadvertently suggests is infinitely less novel than that.” 3 out of 10, /Film
“Margaux ends up being frustrating because there is so much potential for something here that isn’t your typical slasher movie–where the slasher is a deranged killer whose reason for killing is paper thin at best. It’s a movie you’re really rooting for that lets you down time and time again. It’s a rated-R version of Escape Room but stripped down to its bare bones where it’s just the deaths, and that simply doesn’t work.” 4 out of 10, Gamespot
“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.” 6 out of 10, Geek Vibes Nation
“As long as you’re able to withstand how ridiculous the film’s story is and not fall into the conspiracist rabbit hole of thinking that this could actually happen, you’ll have a good time. I laughed at times, I was thrilled at times, I yelled at my TV when characters made stupid decisions, and to me, that’s a great way to spend an hour and forty-four minutes.” Horror Obsessive
“Kills are singular and purposeful, with not a single one of them exactly the same as what has come before. Steven C. Miller does an excellent job building tension and suspense, weaving in the script’s dark humor in a fashion organic to everything the movie is trying to say. Margaux often takes big swings — while this doesn’t always work, it still makes for a very entertaining watch that is less predictable than one would anticipate.” 3.5 out of 5, Josh at the Movies
“Everyone in the cast is either pretty or handsome and does a commendable job flexing their muscles — acting or otherwise. But Margaux does feel like a missed opportunity for something better, even though the demises do get inventive. A near-death experience while taking a virtual cycling class might well be a first.” 2 stars, The Mercury News
“B-movie mainstay Steven C. Miller […] builds suspense here and there and stages a reasonably inventive murder-by-technology moment or two. But Margaux is so formulaic as to forbid anything resembling a surprise. The tech depicted here is closer to “conjuring” than anything that could be mimicked, manufactured or automated today.” 1.5 out of 4, Movie Nation
“Overall, the movie has its highs and lows, which is expected from these types of films. However, you can’t go wrong with renting this one and enjoying it with someone because it makes you wonder what in the world you would do in these situations. Plus the ending of this movie is a wild ride.” The Music City Drive-In
“Beyrooty and Waters instigate conversations about the futility of binary programming versus human complexities while also taking the time to throw in low-hanging hormonal party gags that cut the technological doom-and-gloom with sarcasm. Margaux stumbles somewhat in the final act and isn’t the prettiest virtually rendered showcase, yet its filmmaker understands how to keep audiences snickering and cackling.” Paste
“Whilst I’d happily watch millennials be slaughtered in a horror film all day long it’s the characters’ depth that interests me more in Margaux – they are after all just college kids wanting to have fun on a weekend off and no amount of MS Office software should try and teach them a lesson in life which features blood-curdling horror.” Whichfilm
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