Morgan (R)
20th Century Studios; IMDb; Rotten Tomatoes; TV Tropes; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Fandango; Google Play; Max; Movies Anywhere; YouTube

Caution: spoilers.

This came out in 2016, but I didn't see it until 2025. It did poorly both financially and critically, which I think is a shame. It's not a great movie, but I definitely liked it. It's hard to know just where to put my review. I'm going with "science fiction", but it could just as well go under "sci-fi horror" or "thrillers" or maybe something else, I dunno.

There's a risk management specialist for a corporation called SynSect, named Lee Weathers (Kate Mara). She is sent to an isolated facility where a project has been going on for several years, involving a synthetic humanoid named Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy). There was an incident recently in which Morgan attacked one of the scientists involved with the project, Dr. Kathy Grieff (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Everyone there, including Kathy, want to protect Morgan, whom they more or less treat as a real human child. (She's five years old, but accelerated growth led to her looking like a teenager.) Lee is there to assess whether the project should be continued, or if it would be best for Morgan to be terminated. (She considers Morgan an "it" rather than a "she".) The research team is led by Dr. Lui Cheng (Michelle Yeoh) and Dr. Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones). Other people at the facility include Dr. Amy Menser (who is Morgan's best friend), a married couple named Doctors Darren and Brenda Finch, a chef named Skip Vronsky, and maybe some others of less importance.

The day after Lee arrives, Morgan undergoes a psych evaluation by Dr. Alan Shapiro (Paul Giamatti), a psychologist and A.I. expert who, like, Lee, had been sent by SynSect. He goads her into getting angry, and she kills him. (I really didn't blame her, the guy was a dick.) So, the order is given to terminate Morgan, but none of the staff want to go along with it. They sedate her with plans to then give her a lethal injection, but then change their minds and plan to escape with Morgan. They lock Lee in the glass cage that Morgan had previously been locked in, to stop her from killing Morgan. But when Morgan wakes up she believes everyone has betrayed her, and starts killing them one by one. All except Amy, who is nevertheless terrified. Lee eventually manages to free herself and track down Morgan and Amy, and a battle ensues.

I think that's pretty much all I want to reveal of the plot. Already I feel like I've said too much, but it was kind of necessary. Of course it turns out Morgan had been created to be a weapon, but a mistake had been made in designing her with the ability to feel emotions. I think for most of the film we're meant to be sympathetic toward Morgan, and feel she was being treated unfairly by Lee and the corporation. So I like the twist that really Lee was right all along. And... there's another plot twist that I won't spoil, but I had guessed it a little while before it was revealed. Anyway, I liked the story and the acting and everything. I don't really get why critics didn't like it. It wasn't perfect, but I didn't notice any of the flaws that the critics did, even after having them pointed out. So, I'm glad I've finally seen it.