Set in 2025, “Gremlins 3” follows Maya Chen, a brilliant tech entrepreneur who inherits her grandfather’s mysterious antique shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Among the curiosities, she discovers Gizmo, who has been safely kept by her grandfather since the events of the previous films. Despite warnings about the three crucial rules, Maya’s cutting-edge smart home system automatically feeds Gizmo after midnight, triggering a new generation of tech-savvy Gremlins.

These modern Gremlins quickly adapt to the digital age, hacking smart devices, manipulating AI systems, and causing chaos in ways their predecessors never could. They take control of autonomous vehicles, reprogram delivery drones for mayhem, and use social media to spread panic across the city. The leader, a particularly intelligent Gremlin named Cipher, gains access to Maya’s experimental quantum computer, threatening to unleash digital chaos worldwide.

Maya teams up with Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), now a cybersecurity expert, who returns as a mentor figure. Together with Gizmo, they must stop the Gremlins before they can upload themselves into the global network and replicate digitally. The story explores themes of technological dependence, artificial intelligence, and the unintended consequences of innovation.

The film balances horror and humor as the Gremlins create elaborate pranks using modern technology – from hijacking smart refrigerators to turning robot vacuums into weapons. A particularly memorable sequence involves the creatures taking over a fully automated luxury hotel, turning its advanced systems against the guests in increasingly creative ways.

The climax takes place in Maya’s tech company headquarters during a major product launch, where the team must prevent Cipher from accessing the quantum mainframe while dealing with hundreds of Gremlins who have transformed the smart building into their playground. The story culminates in a battle between traditional wisdom and modern technology, proving that sometimes the old rules are the best rules, even in a digital age.