“Mama” is one of those typical new era horror movies that’s got some scary parts and imagery; a compliment of jump scares and chilling visuals, but has an ending so outlandish that the movie as a whole is nothing short of weak.
A deep review with prodding depth and sharp analysis isn’t warranted. Two young girls are left to fend for themselves after an explanatory opening sequence, and they stay hidden in a remote cabin deep in the woods for five years until they are discovered by their loving uncle.
The children survived with the assistance of a thought-to-be-imaginary caretaker they kindly refer to as Mama. “There’s a woman outside and she’s not touching the floor.” One of the tykes says at the beginning. The feral children are brought back to civilization by their uncle, Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of ‘Game of Thrones’ fame), and mama isn’t too pleased about being separated from her cubs.
Jessica Chastain stars as Annabel, a rocker girl who hates the idea of having children (evidenced by an early scene with a negative pregnancy test) and she’s really great in the role. Annabel loves her boyfriend Lucas, and also loves her freedom, and is the perfect unwilling compliment to having to suddenly care for two young girls, both of which are anything but normal.
Additional characters come in the form of a therapist (Daniel Kash) and a greedy relative who wants custody of the children (Jane Moffat) but you’ll quickly discover these characters are introduced for little reason other than a higher body count.
“Mama” was decent for a while. The idea of ravenous little girls stalking the woods and the house is a pretty frightful concept, and the early scenes were effective. Jessica Chastain does a terrific job as the central adult character, but her talent alone can’t save the sloppy writing. By the end it’s just ridiculous, and you’ll be wondering where the last 100 minutes of your life went.
In the words of today’s youth, meh.
by – Matt DeCristo
