M3GAN was a hit when it opened in 2022, grossing over $180 million on a $12 million budget. However, last year's M3GAN 2.0 bombed with a $39 million haul, leaving erotic sci-fi thriller Soulm8te on the shelf due to the sequel's poor performance.
The spin-off was shot in 2024 and only recently secured a Digital release on VOD platforms on August 1. Critics didn't get to see Soulm8te in advance, and the first wave of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes may explain why.
As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, Soulm8te currently has a "Rotten" 55% score on the review aggregator, which sets an unfortunate record for the Blumhouse franchise. With M3GAN rated 93% and M3GAN 2.0 receiving 57%, Soulm8te is now the lowest-rated instalment and likely where this series ends.
The Hollywood Reporter called the movie "more watchable than you might expect," but RogerEbert.com's critic countered, "Let [this film] serve as a reminder to film executives everywhere: Not every sleeper hit needs to become an unofficial trilogy."
Daily Dead added, "Even with sunken hopes and slashed expectations, Soulm8te still manages to underwhelm." Mama's Geeky, on the other hand, stated, "Part adult M3GAN, part lethal warning: Soulm8te is a bloody, fast-paced blast that proves why programming a tech soulmate is a deadly idea."
So, it's not all bad, even if that "Rotten" score suggests otherwise. Whether this will be enough for horror fans to seek out the movie is another matter, though it will likely land on streaming in the not-too-distant future.
Meanwhile, Eli Roth's Ice Cream Man, which follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results, is also being slated.
That has a Rotten "32%" score, with Movie Files declaring, "Eli Roth's Ice Cream Man had the potential to be a fun, over-the-top B-horror movie, but it’s undone by flat performances, inconsistent tone, and a messy script. Easily one of the worst movies of the year!"
Roth has been coming under fire for using AI in the movie, and it sounds like he's failed to deliver a movie that will receive the same level of love as Thanksgiving, for example.
Soulm8te comes from the studio that brought you Five Nights at Freddy's and Obsession, Blumhouse Atomic Monster "launches the newest android that is sure to light your fire while keeping you on the edge of your seat."
Booting up to fulfil your every need, anticipate your every desire, and love you unconditionally, director and co-writer Kate Dolan (You Are Not My Mother) delivers what the studio touted as "a provocative thriller that blurs the line between coded devotion and obsession."
"Unnerving, sexy, suspenseful, and darkly compelling, SOULM8TE follows a grieving engineer tasked with testing a ruthless tech giant’s new artificially intelligent android," reads the synopsis. "But when he attempts to program her to be a truly sentient soulmate, she develops needs of her own - unleashing a relentless spree of precision-engineered mayhem."
The premise sounds interesting on paper, but movies like Subservience and Companion beat Soulm8te to the punch and received a much warmer response from critics.
Soulm8te's cast is led by Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise), David Rysdahl (Alien: Earth), Claudia Doumit (The Boys), and Arty Froushan (Daredevil: Born Again).
You can watch the trailer for the movie below.