Text with M3GAN and clock in at the Severance office — immersive experiences are changing how we watch

The internet's favourite killer AI doll is back in theatres and this time, viewers can slide into M3GAN's DMs during screenings to text with a chatbot version of the character. Will it set a new low for theatre etiquette, or is it just another innovative way audiences are being invited to actively participate?

The sci-fi horror movie went viral in 2022 thanks to the doll's killer dance moves, and now it's being re-released in the U.S. for one night only as part of Blumhouse Productions' Halfway to Halloween festival on April 30, and to hype the sequel, M3GAN 2.0, coming out June 27.

Viewers of the re-release will be able to use their phones to interact with a chatbot version of the title character powered by Meta's new Movie Mate technology.

And the M3GAN chatbot isn't the only innovation on offer as we move from an era where we passively sit and watch and into one where we're encouraged to interact with our entertainment. Immersive experiences for shows like the Apple TV+ hit Severance are transporting fans into fictional worlds. Experts say these marketing strategies can help build engagement, but also note authenticity is key.

The first M3GAN film garnered a lot of attention online, going viral on social media and contributing to its box-office success. Three years later, the sequel seems to be striving to recreate that same momentum.

By sending a direct message to the internet's favourite killer doll on Instagram, viewers attending the M3GAN re-releases will be able to access exclusive content, trivia and behind-the-scenes info.

Kristen Duke, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Toronto, says the fact that the screenings are a one-night-only event introduces an element of scarcity, and enhances the value and excitement people could feel.

"Part of the goal will be to kind of stimulate conversation afterward, like, 'I had this crazy interaction with the M3GAN bot,' " she said.

Duke also noted that this may be specifically intended to attract Gen Z consumers, because they're already in the habit of using their phones as a second screen.

"That might be a new way of the future," she said.

Duke also points out that M3GAN's chatbot gambit could mean that if people are busy on their phones, they might miss details in the film.

"If you were kind of in the flow of the story, you were narratively transported, we would say," she said. "Then switching to your phone and doing a slightly different task will kind of break you out of that."

New York-based film and pop culture critic Kristen Maldonado says that while viewers might find it interesting to be able to access exclusive content or additional information, encouraging them to do that while texting a chatbot as a movie plays is "a little dangerous," because it makes it more socially acceptable to use phones in a dark theatre.

"Maybe there's a different way that could be done, where you're still getting that experience but not taking away from what's on the actual silver screen," Maldonado said.

But just as recent rowdy screenings of A Minecraft Movie have disrupted traditional theatre etiquette, more young people may be bringing their second-screen habits to the silver screen.

Duke says that will probably upset people who just want to watch the movie. "I think all of this is meant to be additional experiences that enhance your immersion in the story, but don't actually interrupt your actual consumption," she said.

Sure enough, when the M3GAN chatbot was announced, not everyone was thrilled.

"I don't really want people to be looking at their brighter-than-the-sun screens in a dark room," wrote @JiltedValkyrie on X.

That's a sentiment shared by American theatre chain Alamo Drafthouse, which told Variety it will continue to enforce its strict no-phones policy during the screenings — sorry M3GAN, they're putting you on do not disturb.

To Maldonado, a second-screen experience "doesn't sound as exciting" as being physically present somewhere. She suggests that instead of incorporating phones in theatres, a better way to keep fans engaged is to connect them to each other by offering immersive events that can truly bring fictional worlds to life.

It's a trend that's caught on in recent years, with shows as diverse as Friends and Stranger Things recreating sets that allow fans to grab a coffee at Central Perk, or venture into the infamous Hawkins lab for an interactive adventure.

But the most recent show earning praise for its immersive fan experience is Severance.

Just before its second season premiered in January, Apple pulled off a genuinely impressive marketing stunt by recreating the show's Macrodata Refinement department at Lumon Industries in the middle of New York City's Grand Central Station — complete with actors Adam Scott, Britt Lower and Zach Cherry in character as severed workers Mark S., Helly R. and Dylan G.

That attention to detail caught the eye of Severance superfan Cris Bartoletti, who posted on social media that she was surprised when the actual cast showed up.

So when the Boston resident got an opportunity to take part in an immersive event for the show — or an Outdoor Retreat Team-Building Occurrence, as Lumon would call it — she jumped at the chance.

Earlier this month, as she drove up the familiar semi-circular driveway toward the Bell Works building in New Jersey that stands in for Lumon Industries, Bartoletti felt her excitement growing.

When she got inside, she was even more impressed by the attention to detail as she and other fans got to live in the Severance world for a day.

"Everywhere you looked, there was something Lumon-themed and it very much felt made for fans," she said, before relating a perfect example of how the event catered to the people who really love the show.

"Have you finished your file?"

That was the question posed to Bartoletti by a worker in the Mammalians Nurturable department of Lumon, populated on the show by goats and their caretakers, including department chief Lorne, played by Gwendoline Christie.

The actor made a surprise appearance to help kick off a Q&A panel featuring the rest of the cast and hosted by Stephen Colbert.

Bartoletti says this particular sense of "excitement and spontaneity" that the surprise pop-ups provided can only really happen organically.

"Trying to engage fans and sort of getting that organic conversation going are what gets most people to start new shows at this point."

To Duke, it's no surprise that fans are delighted by the elaborate Severance events.

"The top trend that I've seen with younger consumers is this desire for authenticity," she said. "We've developed this skepticism of outright explicit advertising."