Mikes Film Talk

Directed and co-written by Andrés Muschietti and produced by master film maker Guillermo del Toro, Mama is “labelled” as a Guillermo del Toro Presents and it is a downright creepy and very scary movie indeed.

Starring Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who should have played Leon Kennedy in Resi Evil Retribution) and Megan Charpentier along with Isabelle Nélisse  as the two children the film is centred around. Every actor did a marvleous job in their roles, but I do have to take my hat off to Jane Moffat as the horrid Aunt Jean. Moffat had a small role but she came across as a nasty bit of “controlling bitch” whenever she was on-screen.

Of course huge kudos are in order for both the child actors as they really sold their characters and Charpentier will be giving Dakota Fanning a run for her money in a few years time. Isabelle was scary as hell as the younger sister Lilly. 

The beginning of the film starts with a slow move in to a car parked haphazardly in front of a house with the driver’s door open. As the camera moves in and past the car to the house, we hear a news report. The report is telling of the two deaths of corporate partners who have lost their company because of the 2008 ‘market’ crash. The third partner is missing.

But we know where he is, he’s home collecting his two children and taking them away. Lucas (Coster-Waldau) has been a very busy man. He’s killed his estranged wife and plans on killing himself and his two girls. After he crashes his car, he takes the girls deep into the woods. There they find a deserted and creepy house and take shelter in it.

After breaking up a chair for firewood, Lucas starts a fire. He takes Victoria (the younger version of Victoria is played very well by Morgan McGarry) to a glass door and tells her to look at a deer. Taking his gun, he prepares to shoot her when a shadowy presence grabs him and saves the two children’s lives.

All this before the credits!

During the credits, we see a montage of children’s drawings that are clearly depicting the girls and what has happened to them. The last few pictures show the two girls going around on all fours like animals. The clear implication is that they have both become feral. When the credits stop, we are informed that 5 years have passed since the incident at the house.

We then meet Jeffrey (Coster-Waldau again) who is Lucas’s twin brother, we learn very quickly that he has never given up on finding the two girls and that he has spent all his money on the search. We also meet his girlfriend, band member Annabel (Chastain) and it is apparent that she supports his efforts.

Two men who Jeffrey has hired to search, stumble upon the house and find the girls. It is the first really creepy moment in the film and I’ll admit, it made me jump when the girls made themselves known to the two searchers.

We have now gotten to the “meat” of the film as the two girls are put under medical care and the slow process of their rehabilitation begins. Victoria mistakes Jeffrey for his murderous brother and she responds well to him when he gives her some new glasses.

Jeffrey and Annabel fight for custody of the two girls against Jean, the sister of the woman who Lukas killed at the beginning of the film. With the help of girls’ therapist Dr Dreyfuss  Daniel Kash) Jeffery and Annabel not only win, but they are given the use of a family house owned by the institute where Victoria and Lilly have been treated.

Soon it becomes apparent that something has come with the girls from that creepy house in the woods and it wastes no time in making itself known.

This film had a lot of quality scare moments in it. Unlike a lot of modern horror films, Mama did not rely on loud noises to freak the crap out of you. Of course the volume increased but it was the visual impact of what you were seeing that made you lose half of your popcorn.

There is one scene towards the end of the movie that had a group of teens in the back of the cinema giggling nervously. As Mama’s hair whirled and swirled across the floor towards a character, the giggling turned to shrieks when she then materialized in full form.

I know how the teenagers felt, I had a ring of popcorn around my seat after that and other scenes in the film. Director Muschietti makes this film dark and creepy and tragic. This mix pervades the entire film and when it is finished you sigh with shaky relief. You also want to see the whole thing again.

I’ll be purchasing this Spanish-Canadian film the second it comes out on Blu-ray. It delivers scares that are on par with Insidious and other films of that ilk.

I have to give this a 6 stars out of 5 just for the very fact that I shot most of my popcorn into the air every time that Mama made her presence known. A word of caution, I almost had another heart attack watching this film.

This is one scary movie and it will have you jumping and clutching at your heart, even Jessica Chastain can’t save you.

Related articles

• Mama (2013) (rantbit.wordpress.com)
• Movie review: Mama proves best chills aren’t about blood, guts (timescolonist.com)
• Mama (15) (morningstaronline.co.uk)
• Movie Review: MAMA Is Creepy And Original (badassdigest.com)
• ‘Mama’ Knows Best – But She’s The Worst (npr.org)
• Guillermo del Toro’s new thriller “Mama” spooks with terrifying finesse (nbclatino.com)
• Mama – A Review (asheathersworldturns.wordpress.com)
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