“Mama” is a 2013 Ghost Story starring Jessica Chastain (The Help, Zero Dark Thirty, The Tree of Life), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), Megan Charpentier (Resident Evil: Retribution’s “The Red Queen”) and Isabelle Nélisse (Who’s just starting out her movie career). Directed by Andrés Muschietti (Maker of the short “Mamá” (2008).
After their father, Jeff (Nikolaj) killed their mother, he leads daughters: Lilly (Nélisse) and Victoria (Charpentier), who are but 1 and 3 years old respectively, into a snowy woods after their getaway results in a car crash. They happen upon a lone, abandoned house by a lake where they stay for what was suppose to be a brief bit while dad prepares to murder his daughters, probably to turn the gun on himself afterwards. Grisly indeed... But “Mama” saves the day. She guards the kids for two years while their uncle Lucas searches for them, hoping to find them alive or at least to provide them a proper burial. They’re found, by then quite feral, and while safe now, Mama lingers still, becoming jealous of new contact with other human beings. Caught up in all this is Annabel (Chastain), who doesn’t want to be a mom but is in an awkward position of being in love with Lucas, who takes custody of the kids. As the children open up to their new guardians and to psychologist Dr. Dreyfuss, so too does the story of “mama” and the real danger that lies hidden in “The walls”!
It doesn’t have the twists and turns I’ve heard of from some reviews. Forget the twists and turns. Other than there being a child psychologist in the movie, there’s little else psychological about it. It’s a ghost story, and a solid one at that.
Chastain and the kids (Nélisse and Charpentier) are great, offering much in the way of character beyond the regular horror story staples of unwitting or fearful lead and creepy, vulnerable children. That isn’t to say they’ve escaped all horror movie conventions (Chastain’s wardrobe for one, and all sorts of wandering around in the dark for another). What’s great is that the flick offers some movement on an emotional level with what feels like natural relationship building between the girls and their guardians, making for a refreshingly grounded ghost story.
And the scares! “Mama” isn’t short in the jump out at you scares. I’m not a fan of those because I think they’re cheap. The way the music swells when that happens and then dies down to near silence thereafter is cheap. Mama’s got some of that. But she also has a great story (albeit with excess fat in the uncle and psychologist department) AND she’s got genuinely awesome horror! While the CG is a little too CG at times, it’s largely very well done. One GREAT part sticks out where mama stands, with a dislocated upright and slanted posture, at the end of a corridor. Victoria warns her sister not to look at mama because “she’s mad”. And is she ever.
There are plenty of loose ends in “Mama” suggesting that parts were edited out or were just dead ends, but a worthwhile experiences rises above it. And that ending… It goes confidently where it wants to go and is something of a bittersweet if not thought provoking (the conflicting kind) finale. Mama gets an 8.3/10. Go and see it.
- Josh
Chastain and the kids (Nélisse and Charpentier) are great, offering much in the way of character beyond the regular horror story staples of unwitting or fearful lead and creepy, vulnerable children. That isn’t to say they’ve escaped all horror movie conventions (Chastain’s wardrobe for one, and all sorts of wandering around in the dark for another). What’s great is that the flick offers some movement on an emotional level with what feels like natural relationship building between the girls and their guardians, making for a refreshingly grounded ghost story.
And the scares! “Mama” isn’t short in the jump out at you scares. I’m not a fan of those because I think they’re cheap. The way the music swells when that happens and then dies down to near silence thereafter is cheap. Mama’s got some of that. But she also has a great story (albeit with excess fat in the uncle and psychologist department) AND she’s got genuinely awesome horror! While the CG is a little too CG at times, it’s largely very well done. One GREAT part sticks out where mama stands, with a dislocated upright and slanted posture, at the end of a corridor. Victoria warns her sister not to look at mama because “she’s mad”. And is she ever.
There are plenty of loose ends in “Mama” suggesting that parts were edited out or were just dead ends, but a worthwhile experiences rises above it. And that ending… It goes confidently where it wants to go and is something of a bittersweet if not thought provoking (the conflicting kind) finale. Mama gets an 8.3/10. Go and see it.
- Josh
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