Child’s Play (2019)

Horror movie Child’s Play is stabbing its way onto Showmax. And not only can you watch the original 1988 version, but the grimy, scary, slicing, dicing 2019 edition as well.

Chucky the murder doll is back, but this time not as a toy possessed by the spirit of a serial killer. Instead, Chucky is a Buddi doll, the latest and greatest kids’ toy which has been upgraded to include artificial intelligence. A disgruntled worker at the toy factory disabled the safety protocols and now Chucky is jealously killing his kid Andy’s friends so that Andy only spends time with him.

It’s scarier than ever because in 2019 we’re closer to real artificial intelligence than back in 1988, while the independence of the tween characters is spot on as they go out at night without their parents’ permission. Make no mistake: this is not for kids.

While it’s scary, there’s also a subliminal message, writes Peter Bradshaw at theguardian.com: “This reboot is reconfigured around something more overtly and satirically absurd than usual: it is a movie that mocks the exploitative globalised conditions in which toys are made for complacent consumers in the prosperous west.”