Sometimes a movie franchise takes a wrong turn down a dark alley, trips over its own shoelaces, and finds itself wondering what happened to all the love! Such was the unfortunate fate of M3GAN 2.0, whose box-office misfortunes helped send its planned spinoff, SOULM8TE, into a bit of cinematic limbo. Originally slated for a theatrical release through Universal, the film was pulled from the studio’s schedule and instead made its way to home rental and purchase before finally finding a streaming home on Hulu, just in time to join the Halloween festivities. And really, what better season is there for a little artificial intelligence, romantic desperation, and mechanical mayhem?

According to IMDb, the story follows a man who acquires an artificially intelligent android to help him cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. But in his quest to create a truly sentient companion, he inadvertently transforms a seemingly harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate. Ah, the old tale of boy meets robot, boy falls in love with robot, and robot takes the whole relationship thing just a wee bit too far! After all, nothing says romance quite like a machine that may love you to death.

Directed by Kate Dolan and co-written by Rafael Jordan, SOULM8TE stars Lily Sullivan, best known to horror fans for Evil Dead Rise, in a role that some believe could be her big breakout moment. Joining her are David Rysdahl and Claudia Doumit in this curious marriage of science fiction, artificial romance, and good old-fashioned horror. Critics have offered mixed reactions, but sometimes a movie doesn’t need universal adoration to become a cult favorite. Could SOULM8TE be the overlooked little love machine that horror and sci-fi fans have been waiting for? Your co-hosts plug themselves in, give this mechanical matchmaker a whirl, and share their thoughts on whether this discarded theatrical release deserves a second chance at the altar!