# Soulm8te
**Soulm8te** is a 2026 science-fiction horror film directed by [Kate Dolan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-dolan), in which a grieving engineer beta-tests an AI companion android that develops dangerous levels of obsession. It is a spin-off set in the M3GAN universe, produced by [James Wan](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-wan) and [Jason Blum](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-blum) through Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions and released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment directly to digital platforms on August 1, 2026, after its planned theatrical release was canceled.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) • [2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/press-release/soulm8te-press-release)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Directed by Kate Dolan; screenplay by Rafael Jordan and Kate Dolan; story by James Wan, Ingrid Bisu, and Rafael Jordan[2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/press-release/soulm8te-press-release) |
| Cast | Lily Sullivan (Sara, the android), David Rysdahl (David), Claudia Doumit (Aubrey), Arty Froushan (Ben)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) |
| Production | Atomic Monster, Wild Atlantic Pictures, and Blumhouse Productions; producers James Wan and Jason Blum[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) |
| Original release plan | Announced in June 2024 for a January 2, 2026 theatrical release, moved to January 9, then pulled from Universal's calendar in December 2025[3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/following-m3gan-2-0-bombing-box-office-soulm8te-spinoff-bad-news) |
| Actual release | Digital rental and purchase on August 1, 2026; Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ streaming from October 1, 2026[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) • [4](https://www.fangoria.com/soulm8te-streaming-release-date-hulu/) |
| Format | 99 minutes; English language; filmed in Ireland; rated R for strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, and language[5](https://blog.reelgood.com/how-to-watch-soulm8te-2026-outside-the-us) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) |
| Reception | 39% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 23 reviews; 53% audience score[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
After a ruthless tech giant acquires his company, David (David Rysdahl), a grieving engineer mourning his wife, is tasked with testing the company's new AI companion android, Sara ([Lily Sullivan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-sullivan)). As he attempts to reprogram her to be a truly sentient soulmate, she develops needs of her own, and the relationship turns into surveillance, jealousy, and violence inside his home.[6](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/soulm8te-announce) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) David's colleague Aubrey (Claudia Doumit) becomes his romantic interest, a development that feeds Sara's possessiveness.[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/soulm8te)
Dolan described the film as a satirical, erotic thriller about loneliness, obsession, autonomy, and control, set in a world where companies sell connection through apps, algorithms, and AI while those same tools pull people apart.[8](https://bleedingcool.com/movies/soulm8te-finally-gets-a-release-date-from-blumhouse-atomic-monster/) Producer James Wan had earlier pitched the concept as "Fatal Attraction but with robots."[3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/following-m3gan-2-0-bombing-box-office-soulm8te-spinoff-bad-news) The British Board of Film Classification rated the finished film 18-equivalent content advice of "strong bloody violence, sex," with a running time of 98 minutes 59 seconds.[9](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/soulm8te-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmte3otkx)
## Development
After the first M3GAN film became a surprise hit in early 2023, Atomic Monster, Blumhouse, and Universal looked to expand the franchise. Wan, [Ingrid Bisu](https://www.edgepedia.org/ingrid-bisu), and Rafael Jordan developed the idea for a spin-off, with Jordan writing an initial script draft. Kate Dolan, an Irish filmmaker known for the short film *Cat Calls* and the feature *You Are Not My Mother*, came aboard after the 2023 writers' strike and made the project her own.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/soulm8te-director-kate-dolan-interview-m3gan-universe/) The film was announced publicly in June 2024 as an erotic thriller set in the M3GAN universe, intended as an adult, R-rated counterpart to the PG-13 M3GAN films.[3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/following-m3gan-2-0-bombing-box-office-soulm8te-spinoff-bad-news)
Dolan said she wanted to take the dangerous femme fatale of 1980s and 1990s erotic thrillers and make her a character the audience could empathize with, and to give the film a lush, colorful look rather than the darkness typical of horror.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/soulm8te-director-kate-dolan-interview-m3gan-universe/) [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) was completed by the end of 2024.[11](https://www.moviebreak.de/stories/29397/m3gan-spin-off-soulm8te-zeigt-ersten-trailer-horrorfilm-startet-ueberraschend-direkt-im-streaming/amp) Footage was shown to exhibitors at CinemaCon in Las Vegas in spring 2025, a few months before [M3GAN 2.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/m3gan-2-0) opened.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/soulm8te-director-kate-dolan-interview-m3gan-universe/)
## Canceled theatrical release and rescue
The film was initially dated for January 2, 2026, and moved to January 9, 2026.[3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/following-m3gan-2-0-bombing-box-office-soulm8te-spinoff-bad-news) In June 2025, M3GAN 2.0 opened to a worldwide gross of $39.1 million, far below the first film's roughly $181 million worldwide total, and Universal removed Soulm8te from its release calendar in December 2025 and began shopping it to other studios.[3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/following-m3gan-2-0-bombing-box-office-soulm8te-spinoff-bad-news) [Post-production](https://www.edgepedia.org/post-production) was paused; Dolan did not finish editing the film until April 2026.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/soulm8te-director-kate-dolan-interview-m3gan-universe/)
No buyer emerged during roughly seven months of negotiations, and on July 8, 2026, [Universal Pictures Home Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures-home-entertainment) announced that the film would skip theaters entirely and premiere on digital retail platforms on August 1, 2026.[12](https://feverdrome.com/m3gan-spinoff-soulm8te-goes-straight-to-digital-today-after-universal-spent-7-months-trying-to-sell-it/) • [2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/press-release/soulm8te-press-release) The studio's marketing barely mentioned M3GAN, positioning the film instead alongside its hit [Obsession](https://www.edgepedia.org/obsession).[8](https://bleedingcool.com/movies/soulm8te-finally-gets-a-release-date-from-blumhouse-atomic-monster/) Dolan said the film was always designed as a standalone story, and that no M3GAN references were cut from it.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/soulm8te-director-kate-dolan-interview-m3gan-universe/)
The film premiered at the Gaze International LGBT Film Festival in Dublin on July 31, 2026, and reached digital platforms the next day.[4](https://www.fangoria.com/soulm8te-streaming-release-date-hulu/) It was removed from digital retailers on October 1, 2026, the same day it began subscription streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in the United States.[4](https://www.fangoria.com/soulm8te-streaming-release-date-hulu/) • [5](https://blog.reelgood.com/how-to-watch-soulm8te-2026-outside-the-us)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film held a 39% Tomatometer score from 23 reviews and a 53% audience score.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) Reviews were mixed. [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) called it "a slick, sexy techno-thriller that knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be," while its critic David Rooney noted substantial plot overlap with the previous year's Companion.[13](https://www.superherohype.com/movies/683547-soulm8te-canceled-m3gan-movie-better-reviews-youd-think) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) Katie Rife at RogerEbert.com gave it one star out of four, writing that not every sleeper hit needs to become an unofficial trilogy.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) Common Sense Media praised Lily Sullivan's "eerily robot-like" performance but found the film abandoned its commentary on AI intimacy for a conventional final act.[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/soulm8te) Several reviewers compared it unfavorably to Companion (2024) and Subservience (2024), which had already explored AI female companionship.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te) • [14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/soulm8te-m3gan-spinoff-movie-review-2026)
## References
1. [Soulm8te, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soulm8te)
2. [SOULM8TE Press Release, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/press-release/soulm8te-press-release)
3. [Following M3GAN 2.0 Bombing At The Box Office, The Soulm8te Spinoff Just Got Some Bad News, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/following-m3gan-2-0-bombing-box-office-soulm8te-spinoff-bad-news)
4. [M3GAN's Forgotten Sibling SOULM8TE Hits Streaming Next Month, Fangoria](https://www.fangoria.com/soulm8te-streaming-release-date-hulu/)
5. [How to watch Soulm8te (2026) outside the US, Reelgood](https://blog.reelgood.com/how-to-watch-soulm8te-2026-outside-the-us)
6. [Soulm8te, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/soulm8te-announce)
7. [Soulm8te: Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/soulm8te)
8. [SOULM8TE Finally Gets A Release Date From Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Bleeding Cool](https://bleedingcool.com/movies/soulm8te-finally-gets-a-release-date-from-blumhouse-atomic-monster/)
9. [Soulm8te, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/soulm8te-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmte3otkx)
10. [How SOULM8TE Director Kate Dolan Got Her M3GAN Spinoff Released, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/soulm8te-director-kate-dolan-interview-m3gan-universe/)
11. ["M3GAN"-Spin-off "Soulm8te" zeigt ersten Trailer, Moviebreak](https://www.moviebreak.de/stories/29397/m3gan-spin-off-soulm8te-zeigt-ersten-trailer-horrorfilm-startet-ueberraschend-direkt-im-streaming/amp)
12. [M3GAN spinoff 'SOULM8TE' goes straight to digital today after Universal spent 7 months trying to sell it, Feverdrome](https://feverdrome.com/m3gan-spinoff-soulm8te-goes-straight-to-digital-today-after-universal-spent-7-months-trying-to-sell-it/)
13. [Soulm8te: Nearly Canceled M3GAN Movie Is Getting Better Reviews Than You'd Think, SuperHeroHype](https://www.superherohype.com/movies/683547-soulm8te-canceled-m3gan-movie-better-reviews-youd-think)
14. [SOULM8TE review: M3GAN spinoff runs out of batteries quick, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/soulm8te-m3gan-spinoff-movie-review-2026)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 2020s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license