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Murder Drones: Absolution is a 2032 black horror comedy science-fiction animated film based on the first season of the web series/fan project of the same name. It is the fourth Murder Drones film to be created by DreamWorks Animation, acting as a form of sequel/alternate universe to Murder Drones. It was directed by Sam Raimi, based on the story written by BaggyBOI, and was co-written by Murder Drones creator Liam Vickers, alongside Black Panther writer/director Ryan Coogler and My Hero Academia creator Kōhei Horikoshi. The film stars Trina Nishimura as Blue, with other cast members including Bella Ramsey, Yuri Lowenthal, Tati Gabrielle, Bryce Papenbrook, Zeno Robinson, Olivia Olson, Jeremy Jordan, Matthew Rhys, and Blake Roman.
BaggyBOI, the creator of the web series/fan project Murder Drones: Absolution, pitched the idea of a film adaptation to DreamWorks, who accepted the idea upon the success of the first two Murder Drones films. It was confirmed by DreamWorks in 2030, with the first trailer premiering on October 31st 2031, on the day of Thus Spoke The Composer: The Disassembled Winter's release. The film's marketing was driven by The Absolution Crew, alongside constant teasers on the Glitch Productions website and YouTube channel. Absolution's opening sequence, similar to those of the James Bond film franchise, was an idea presented by TheAinley, who had been in the writing room alongside the rest of The Absolution Crew. The song chosen for the intro scene was "Gladiator", a song written in 2022 by Polish singer Jan Rozmanowski, more commonly known as Jann, while the song chosen for the closing credits was "Could Have Been Me" by English rock band The Struts. During the final battle of the film, an orchestral cover of "The Other Side" by American rock band Alter Bridge acts as the background music.
Murder Drones: Absolution premiered at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York City, on August 7th, 2032, and was released in the United States on August 21st, though in Australia it was released on August 14th. The film received acclaim from critics, with praises going to Raimi's direction, the score, the fresh story, and the performances of Nishimura, Ramsey, Lowenthal and Robinson, with critics considering it superior to the first two films. It grossed over $1.35 billion at the box office on a $220 million budget, making it the highest-grossing film of 2032, the highest-grossing film in DreamWorks history, the highest-grossing film in Glitch Productions history (beating the record set the previous year by Thus Spoke The Composer: The Disassembled Winter) and the fifth highest-grossing animated film of all time. A spin-off, Murder Drones: Fatality Complex, was released in 2035.
Voice cast[]
- Trina Nishimura as Blue, a determined and loyal Worker Drone who possesses an alternate version of the AbsoluteSolver, known as the Supernova Solver
- Bella Ramsey as Remi, the "small yet mighty" Worker Drone of the group
- Yuri Lowenthal as Serial Designation B, a Disassembly Drone with a split personality
- Tati Gabrielle as Alcina, the late older sister of Remi
- Seychelle Gabriel as Serial Designation D, a Disassembly Drone who befriends Remi and becomes an ally to the group
- Bryce Papenbrook as Zeke, the other personality of Serial Designation B
- Zeno Robinson as Asher, a troublemaker Worker Drone in the Colony School who ran away from a toxic household
- Olivia Olson as Lyra, a quiet and reserved Worker Drone who seems to have more than meets the eye
- Xochitl Gomez as Rose, one of the "popular girls" of the Colony School who's obsessed more with looking pretty than surviving
- Amber Lee Connors as Jenna, a reserved member of the Colony School who later becomes Lyra's girlfriend
- Mercedes Varnado as Rhonda, a being that only Jenna can see due to a powerful malware
- Jeremy Jordan as the alternate voice of Zeke
- Giancarlo Esposito as Zelpex, a mad scientist and eventual ally to the group
- Alec Newman as S.P, a being that functions exactly like a virus, the main antagonist of the film
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Stella, the late older sister of Blue
- Matthew Rhys as Thomas, the abusive and manipulative father of Asher and Dominik
- Blake Roman as Dominik, Asher's older brother and the apparent favourite child of Thomas
- Tamsin Greig as Laura, the late mother of Asher and Dominik who was sacrificed to the Disassembly Drones by Thomas
Additionally, Steve Coogan reprises his role as the school's teacher Liam from the first film, alongside Ryan Reynolds, who voiced Serial Designation N in the first and second film (N is the narrator of the third film). Sam Rockwell was slated to return to the role of Khan Doorman in selected scenes, though due to scheduling conflicts, he was replaced by Matt Smith. Similarly, Catherine Tate didn't reprise her role as Nori Doorman due to scheduling issues, which lead to her being replaced by Lupita Nyong'o for this film. In a scene where Asher is watching the 1998 film The Prince Of Egypt, archived recordings of Ralph Fiennes and the late Val Kilmer can be heard. In early drafts of the film, Ewan McGregor was slated to play a character known as Switchblade, though this role was cut, and instead his voice went to a character named David, who is Asher's grandfather. Dee Bradley Baker and Lou Ferrigno provide the noises for the Sentinels. Janet Varney and James Buckley portray two nerds chatting about music in the back of the classroom. Dutch musician Joost Klein makes a cameo as a Worker Drone version of himself on the TV.
The Absolution Crew (BaggyBOI, FrostByte, TheAinley, and LunaBlueMoon) make cameos as school staff members, while Baggy also provides a secondary voice for Zelpex that is used in a glitched-overlaying with Giancarlo Esposito's voice.
Film rating[]
The film was rated PG-13 in the United States, 12A for UK theater releases, and M in Australia. This is due to featuring strong violence, threat, and scenes of sustained horror.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Murder Drones: Absolution grossed $694.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $655.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $1.35 billion.
On a budget of $220 million, Murder Drones: Absolution was projected to gross $135-160 million in its five-day opening weekend. It went approximately $30 million over projection, grossing an astounding $190 million over the five-day period, and topped the box office by a heavy margin. It was the largest opening gate in the Murder Drones film series by far, surpassing that of the original Murder Drones film from 2026.
Internationally the film opened in different countries with different dates, with Australia being the earliest country to release it. In every single one of the countries it opened in, it topped the box office, pure box office domination. The film was not released in the Middle East and North Africa due to its inclusion of LGBTQ+ actors and staff.
Critical response[]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 337 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "A thrilling post-apocalyptic robot story like never before, Murder Drones: Absolution captures the essence of its predecessors and quadruples its quality." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 93 out of 100, based on 75 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale (up from the first two films), while those polled at PostTrak gave it a 94% overall positive score, with 90% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.