Soulm8te Director on Losing Theatrical Release, Explains Ending

[This story contains spoilers from Soulm8te.]

Four years ago, Blumhouse struck gold with M3GAN, the story of a roboticist who creates an AI-powered doll to serve as a companion for her niece after the child loses her parents. The horror-comedy became a breakout hit with critics and audiences, grossing $180 million worldwide on a $12 million budget.

However, last year’s M3GAN 2.0 failed to replicate that success. The sequel followed M3GAN being rebuilt to help combat a humanoid military robot, but it ultimately underperformed, grossing $39.1 million worldwide.

That changed the trajectory for Soulm8te, a spinoff set in the M3GAN universe starring Lily Sullivan as Sara, an AI-powered companion for a grieving widower, David, played by David Rysdahl. But Sara quickly becomes dangerously obsessed. Kate Dolan’s feature was originally expected to follow in the franchise’s footsteps and debut in theaters. But the film was removed from Universal’s theatrical calendar in December, leaving its release plans uncertain.

It was a surprise for Dolan and those involved, but last month, the world learned the film would make its way to audiences, with Blumhouse Atomic Monster announcing Soulm8te would premiere as a home entertainment release on Aug. 1.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Dolan, who wrote the screenplay from a story credited to James Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Rafael Jordan, discusses crafting an erotic thriller spin on the AI doll, her future with Blumhouse Atomic Monster, why she is glad the film is reaching audiences at home, and comparisons to horror hit Obsession and the film’s ending.

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How did you balance the erotic thriller tone of this film without losing what audiences love about the M3GAN universe?

That tone was the big question of how to balance those things. The reason James and Ingrid wanted to make this was because they love erotic thrillers and they wanted to make something that was true to that era of of filmmaking. And when I first spoke to James, he was referencing a lot of the classic erotic thriller films. And then they were like, OK but it needs to work in the M3GAN universe. So that was my biggest task initially — what’s the tone of this film, and how do we balance that? I watched a lot of films for reference, and films of that era are quite campy and can be — now looking back — quite fun in some ways. So I was just like mining what worked in those films and how to balance those tones together.

James Wan is, of course, a horror maestro. What was it like collaborating with him so closely?

For sure. It was something that he really wanted to do, so it was sort of his brainchild on doing this as a film. He’s such a wealth of knowledge in terms of filmmaking. He’s worked at the highest levels, and he obviously knows his genre really well. So it was always great to have him there as someone to bounce things off. And he would always look at set pieces, and he even came to set for a few days at one point when we had quite a heavy week of set pieces and stunts. It was great to have his input and insights because he obviously has done this many times before.

This film reminded me of the 2013 film Her at times, and particularly, Lily’s voice as Sara, which sounded reminiscent of Scarlett Johansson’s performance. Was that movie a touchstone as you were working on this? 

Definitely. There were a lot of films that me and the cast watched when we were prepping the movie and the HODs as well. We watched a whole host of erotic thrillers and AI-related robot movies, as well as tonal references like [Paul] Verhoeven’s RoboCop. But Her was definitely one that we watched again. It was interesting watching Her how much has evolved since then, and what we can do to try and tell this story in the now. But even when I was starting to write the film, to when we were shooting, to now, how much things progress so quickly is really crazy. Stuff that we were writing that felt like science fiction months ago suddenly is happening, really, and it’s quite bizarre to experience. (Laughs.) But yeah, Her is a great movie. I think it was really ahead of its time in terms of what it was saying. It’s so interesting to watch it now, because it just feels so strange that that’s real.

This film went through several changes before ultimately landing as a home entertainment release. Do you feel like Soulm8te was impacted by the reception to M3GAN 2.0? What explanation were you given for the change in release strategy?

Yeah, I think M3GAN 2.0 was a big surprise for everybody, and it definitely impacted how Soulm8te was going to go out into the world. M3GAN 2.0 underperformed, and I think that was the main reason. The market is just so unpredictable these days. You don’t really know what’s going to happen or how something’s going to land. It can be very surprising sometimes.

How did you find out that it was going straight to home entertainment, and did you ever worry that audiences wouldn’t get to see the film?

There was definitely a moment where I was concerned that we wouldn’t get to finish the film or people wouldn’t get to see it. So, I was really glad when I knew that it would be released at home because, as a filmmaker, when you’re doing your Dolby Atmos mix, you’re listening to big speakers. You’re hearing all the great sounds that you’re trying to do, and you want that, obviously, to be experienced in a theatrical space. But the bottom line is: What audiences buy into is story and character. That’s always been the case. That’s something that can be enjoyed in a theatrical space, or at home. A lot of movies I grew up loving, I watched at home, and I grew up watching on VHS, late night movies that would be on TV. I think it really allows the film to be seen by a really wide audience as well. A lot of people watch movies at home now, and that’s just part of our world and our culture. I’m just delighted that people are going to get to see the movie.

And what a time we’re in for horror too — Original films like Obsession and Backrooms have exceeded expectations at the box office this year. When the trailer came out for Soulm8te, a lot of people were like, “This is like Obsession mixed with Companion.” Given that it explores similar themes, do you think it could have found an audience theatrically, post-Obsession success?

You never know. It’s hard to [tell] — So, I’m not sure. But it’s funny the comparisons to Obsession because obviously this is a film that we made a while ago now, so it’s been a long time. And it’s funny seeing the comments, people being like, “Oh, this is just being Obsession.” It’s like, “Well, we made this movie a long time ago.” (Laughs.) But it’s so amazing to see those movies do well, and I’m such a fan of those films — I think [Curry Barker and Kane Parsons] are great filmmakers. It’s very exciting. Anything that brings attention to horror and the genre, and a more mainstream audience into that niche, is like a rising tide lifts all boats. It’s a great time for original horror. If people find something in Soulm8te that’s like Obsession that makes them want to watch it, that’s great.​

In previous interviews, Jason Blum has been coy about whether M3GAN would appear in SOULM8TE, which led to speculation. Now that we know she doesn’t appear, what was the thinking behind that decision?

I think it was always going to be standalone — from the very first conversation I had about it. The team at Blumhouse Atomic Monster wanted this film to be its own thing and not have too much crossover with M3GAN. Also, tonally, the team there wanted to make something that felt a little darker, where they could push for the R rating, be a little more violent, or include sexual content. I felt it was better to do that as its own story, and we could push things a little more.

Are there any Easter eggs from films in the franchise that audiences should keep an eye out for?

Yeah, definitely. It was always going to be a standalone movie, but M3GAN 2.0 was actually prepping while I was writing the script for Soulm8te, and they were going into production close to when we were prepping. It was very abreast of each other, and I was always reading the latest drafts of M3GAN 2.0 and finding little things that I could put in that a fan of M3GAN could find in the movie, and they could link things. So yeah, there’s definitely stuff in there for sure.

Can you tell me what in case myself or anyone else missed it at first?

No, you gotta look out for them. They’re very subtle. But we also have a lot of references to different erotic thrillers. There’s the pub in the movie where they do the karaoke at the bar called the White Rabbit, and that was like a Fatal Attraction reference. There’s a lot of little small things in there that blink, and you miss them, but they’re there.

There’s a particularly brutal death scene in the film. Why does Sara to use her sexuality as part of how she manipulates and kills her victims?

That was always a reference back to the heyday of erotic thrillers in the ’80s and ’90s. I think the quote-unquote villain was always a very sexually promiscuous woman who was morally bankrupt, and she would often be using her feminine wiles to trick these men who were these innocent, quote-unquote, victims in this scenario. So, it was always riffing off that. But I always found the sex scenes in the movie, particularly with Sara, to be an abstract symbolism for how we interact with AI and how we’re lured in and we’re seduced in. It’s all symbolizing that — any scenes where she’s doing that are a manifestation of that idea.

Early in the film, Sara says she can survive with water on her for up to 30 minutes. After she’s driven off the cliff, should audiences believe she could have survived?

It was always set up that there’s a potential for that, because the thing with AI and tech is that no matter how much you delete something, it always exists in the digital ether and it survives in some way. You don’t know where those things can live on — and it’s something that we can’t comprehend. It’s not like you can destroy something anymore. There is always a risk that those things exist in the digital space, so it was just playing with that idea as well. I think, as humans, we see things in a very black-and-white way, but I think when it comes to that tech, it’s amorphous and we can’t really get control over it. So, there is a chance that she will survive and live on, and there’s not much we can do about that, really.

At the end, we see another Soulm8te who looks like Sara but with dark hair introduced to David. Is that the real Sara?

I mean, that’s up to the audience to decide if they want to believe it or not. The cast often asks me that, and I was like, “It’s up to you to decide if it is or not.” So, I’m not gonna say any more on that. (Laughs.)

Do David and Aubrey (Claudia Doumit) end up together?

Yeah, I was always rooting for them. I know we don’t see a conclusive result for them at the very end. But I feel like they have survived through this situation together, and they have a deep connection, which is clear. So, I’m always rooting for David and Aubrey. I think they make it in the end.

Have James and Jason Blum talk to you about potentially directing another film for Blumhouse Atomic Monster after Soulm8te?

We haven’t had that conversation yet. At the moment, I have some original ideas that I was writing over the past while. So I’m focused on working on those projects for now. But yeah, I’m always open to the idea of working with those guys again for sure.

If Soulm8te is a hit on VOD, could you imagine doing more with it?

I hadn’t thought about it too much, but recently there was this story about the New York school system thinking about having support teachers who were androids. I’d love a movie where Sara’s pretending to be human or pretending to be a teacher at a school, and we could do something fun with that to riff off that news story. But no, I haven’t thought about it too much. I mean, Lily is amazing as Sara, and I would love to see her in that role again.

How have you navigated building your career as a female director in the horror genre?

I can only speak to my own experience. I tend not to think of myself too much as a female [director]. Because then you start to think about the hurdles that you might face. I’ve always been working on projects that I love and feel connected to; putting as much into them as I possibly can. I’ve been very lucky in my career so far in that I’ve got to do some amazing things — but it’s tough. There’s a lot of unconscious bias in the industry, and there have been times when I’ve come up against that. There’s more you have to think about as a female filmmaker — how you come across on set and all of those kinds of things, which can be tricky. It’s sad to see some of the statistics of when those studies come out, and you see how few women are directing studio films, or films that are released theatrically. It’s definitely something that still needs to be talked about and looked at. But there’s so many amazing female filmmakers out there as well, who are making really cool films and doing amazing work. So, I always feel optimistic that the tables will turn and there will be more people getting to make movies.

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Soulm8te is now streaming digitally.