May Reviews

A girl with a lazy eye grows up as a social outcast with a doll as her only friend; she gets corrective lenses as a young adult and is suddenly set loose on the dating world with no social skills and a dangerously loose grip on reality. An effective, creepy character study for the first two thirds, but it takes an unfortunate turn into predictable slasher territory for the climax.

May is the story of May an odd girl who is very weird. She's never really fit in anywhere. When she meets a guy, things go well, but she starts doing stuff and he leaves. That's when the horror starts. May is the type of horror film that blends horror and drama together, the film is pretty sad and you end up feeling sorry for May. The story itself is very well written, terrifying and dramatic all rolled into one. What surprised me most about this film is it's how well crafted the story was. May is an intense film and at times you feel uneasy and startled. In a worthy note, Anna Farris gives her best (and only) performance. May is a solid Horror film that successfully combines drama and horror to create a poignant, terrifying film. Director Lucky McKee directs a solid cast that give great performances here. May is a different type of horror film, one that pushes the limits of terror and it does it very well with the lead actress Angela Bettis giving a sad, psychotic performance as the title character; she makes this film what it is. Brilliantly conceived and well-written, this is a much needed film in the genre because we have so many unoriginal films in the horror genre nowadays. It's always great to see a director doing something different, something good and original. May is a disturbing film, one that horror fans should definitely check out. This is a brilliantly directed film and showcases the talents of a director who knows how to deliver shocks to an audience. One of the best films of its kind since Brian DePalma's Carrie.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this one, but I may be a little freaked out.

Here we have a girl who lives in her own world that she's made in every sense of the word.
Something on it's own, unique trip to a dark place within a darker mind; and I say alright.

Again this movie probably would have been better if I had not heard so much hype about it. It had an original story line and the acting was not terrible, but still, I was expecting to get suckerpunched and I kind of left feeling like someone had just flicked my nose.

may is one of those movies which emphasize the lives of social misfits, partly derived from its motif, steven king's carrie, which is about a female misfit's incapability of embracing her womanhood, which is reflected upon her fright for her menstruation in the beginning and her dysfunctional relationship with her mother (lack of role model or damaged role model which cannot offer you any positive perception of womanhood)...in other words, whether it's carrie or may, it's always some hell of a journey for them to cope with their own womanhood as well as their awakening sexuality since they both share the problem of finding appropriate love interest who could redeem their own self-image. (as some say, beauty is in the eye of beholder, aren't we all just looking for love interest to redeem oursevles as beautiful whether we truly are or not?)

the allure for any kind of gothic fiction (black comedy is included) is the sense of non-identity, which is a primary stage before the anxiety-inviting separation (gotta leave the mother), through abjection, which is a state where identities collapse, we obtain our sense of non-identity. (isn't nirvana's last album also called "in uterus"? wasn't kurt cobain also craving for that sense of non-identity?) for woman, it's an even more complicated case because she has a womb herself but in a way, she might also loathe the fact that she has a womb and she has to be contaminated in blood every month (menstruation). just picture the last scene in carrie, where sisy speck is soaked in blood, just imagine if you don't stop bleeding from menstruation, then the blood gets splintered all over your body, even sanitory napkin or tampon cannot stop it anymore! carrie's ending is like saying: fuck you! i don't care if you see my period blood, and i'm gonna fucking use it to kill all you hateful! (okok, i've been exaggerating in a highly un-hygienic way..haha)

let's go back to may. the protagonist is born defected because of her lazy eye, and she only has a doll as a friend within her mind. even her own mother is repulsed by her slight disfiguration. she is only good with getting along with animals, thus she becomes a vet. gifted with marvellous tailor-skill, and she practically sews all her clothes. she's self-sufficient despite her ultimate want to be accepted or even loved. then she sets her way looking for love, hoping anyone who gives her a random compliment could just love her a little bit. in the process of seeking love and acceptance, she is doing her "separation" and trying to escape her original state of "non-identity" just to build a sense of subjective self (as a woman, she needs to have her sex appeal affirmed in the quest of romances) until her feeble structure of sanity is disintegrating by other "normal" people's rejections, and they all reject her for the same reason, "you're so fucking weird"...in other words, she's turned down in a world which doesn't approve of her existence.

one of the climaxes is the dramatic scene where she loses her precious doll in an accident and all the other handicapped children are all battered in gruesome blood. the shattering of her doll symbolizes a termination of her primary non-identity where she shelters since the infantile mirror-stage. practically, after this incident, all the failures of her relationships simply guide her into returning to the primary non-identity stage: she simply makes another doll! this time, the doll is made of all the segments of real human flesh from those people who have harmed her without any thoughtful consideration. of course, the doll also has an aura of doppelganger, which also indicates a fixation unto the infantile mirror-stage (the moment you look at the mirror as a child and suddenly you discover you're gazing at yourself. mentally damaged people might just regress into that stage without stepping out)...also, the typical schizod sympton is the incapability to relent your rage through symbolic forms (you hate someone, you burn his picture, normal; you hate someone, you tear off his skin, schizod)...therefore, schizod-inflicted may just returns to the primary non-identity stage without symbolic/ritualistic surrogations, and she practices this process of regression through real killings.

briefly, may is a gothic journey back "IN UTERUS" (nirvana pun intended), a microcosmic social commentary which gratifies your want of non-separation.

This movie was pretty damn awesome. A little weird, funny, creepy...

May is a strange young lady who is in need of a friend. Growing up, she was lonely so her mother gave her a doll, but she wasn't able to play with it since it was kept in a glass box. As an adult, she still has the doll and talks to it when she's alone. May works at an animal hospital and one day meets Adam and becomes obsessed with him. She also has a co-worker played by Anna Faris who is a little silly too. I really enjoyed it.

This worse than a B grade thriller/horror is best left unwatched. Unless, of course, if you're looking for a movie with loads of gore minus a sensible plot.

poor may :'(
twisted, funny and disturbing. great character development for a low budget horror film

Be Careful... She Just Might Take Your Heart. This Movie is very distubring but enjoyable.

The outsider. A popular theme in film production. Smaller films seem to cling to this theme. Bad films tend to portray their "outsider" protagonists in one of two ways, sometimes with overlap: someone obsessed with death or the darker aspects of life and acts like someone who didn't understand Neil Gaiman's Sandman line or someone who bitches about how society doesn't understand or appreciate them (P.S, there's a reason for that: you're an ass.)
Here we have another type of outsider: the withdrawn, quiet girl who has never had much social interaction.

Angela Bettis plays the titular character and seems to have a knack for quirky characters (see the Masters Of Horror first season episode Sick Girl for another notable example. Coincidentally, that episode was directed by Lucky McKee, the director for this film).
Having grown up an outcast due to her lazy eye (later corrected by glasses then by contact lenses) May's only friend was a doll in a case called Suzy. May talks to Suzy as if she was flesh and blood, presumably not just because of her lack of relationships outside her family but because of poor relations IN the family.
The bulk of the movie deals with her trying to maintain a relationship with a man she's obsessed with (Adam, played by Jeremy Sisto) and developing a life outside her work at a veterinary hospital. One such attempt is working at a school for children of disabilities and finding a connection with a little blind girl named Petey.

What I like most about this film is how restrained it is. There's little to no dramatic music, so the shocking moments come without lead-up (I've made similar comments in an earlier review), Angelia's performance is not overly dramatic and it becomes believably darker as the story progresses.

One such moment of darkness is one of the most disturbing things I have ever witnessed and is one of the few times I've ever cringed. Hell, on some repeat viewings, I even look away! That is no mean feat. Skip ahead if you wish to avoid

One afternoon with the blind children, May brings in Suzy and tells them she is her best friend. The children want to touch the doll but May declines, insisting Suzy is fragile (more than likely she doesn't want anyone to take her friend away, regardless of how long they actually hold her. The doll falls and the glass case she is kept in shatters. The kids crawl over to try and find her and... well, put two and two together. Or better yet, don't. It really is that unsettling.

One other point I would like to make is that I believe this to be Anna Faris' best role to date. Sure, it's not totally away from her stereotyped ditz role (I get depressed at the thought of that. I really hope she doesn't start bitching at how she's typecast. If she doesn't want to be known as a ditz, The House Bunny will forever be a smear on her resume. Hopefully that "film" will give her an epiphany. Or be erased from the time/space continuum, either one is fine with me) but at least it's darker. She plays the role of Polly, May's co-worker who is trying to seduce her. Polly has unconventional sexual leanings (though in this day and age, anyone interested in just plain sex is seen as unconventional. Sad state indeed) and if you're used to seeing her as goofballs like Cindy in the Scary Movie series, this might just shock you. Her performance showed signs of a craving to be dark and to try and break out but whether or not she's suppressed those urges or just hasn't been given the right vehicle is something we'll have to wait and find out.

While I will not reveal the details of the ending, I do wish to talk about one aspect of it. This might be the only fault I have with May. Throughout the film, there has been no implication of supernatural/otherworldly behaviour. May does believe Suzy is talking to her but it's implied that it's from years of loneliness that she is slightly unbalanced. I mean, sure, it's possible that Suzy might actually be telepathically communicating with May but that still wouldn't explain the final shot of the movie. As bittersweet as it is, and bare in mind I don't outright condemn it, I'm not exactly sure how the movie came to the conclusion of the decision it made. Yes, I know that movies don't have to explain everything and that fans are encouraged to make up their own minds but that's often a bad idea. My problem is the implication of the supernatural. So, are Frankenstein-esque creations automatically given life in the world of May? Is it a mindscrew? I don't know what to think.

Whatever it may be, it doesn't really detract from a wonderful story about a lonely, lost little girl and her efforts to connect.

How did I miss this one until now?! Fantastic movie, black comedy with a bit of horror thrown in. Angela Betis as May manages to be likable at the same time as downright scary!

THIS is low-budget horror film making. Lucky McKee is a badass, and I hope he continues to find success.

More later.

The most spectacular horror film I have seen since I started watching Asian horror films. It really does restore faith in the genre. The film works so well by playing it as a straight romance involving quirky people. There's no ominous music, just beautifully selected tunes. It's unsettling, certainly, but the lengthy process of staying focussed on May herself and her relationship with Adam all add up to a fantastic pay off. The acting is moving and heartfelt. From Bettis to Sisto there isn't a single weak link. The most important part of this film is emotion. Every act of violence works so disturbingly well at shocking and upsetting because we KNOW these people. May is alone, isolated and ill. She can't connect with people and its sad to see her driven to murderous ways. She isn't some cackling psycho bitch or some "mummy didn't love me" cliche. Writing, sound, music everything is perfect in this film and though it may not be terrifying it is emotionally tiring. The kind of film that when the end credits roll you just stair at them in some kind of hypnotised trance.

Unscary "slasher" film is alternately bizarre, ridiculous and disgusting. Recycled Frankenstein rip-off has its moments, but ultimately wears on its audience and has an unsatisfying payoff. Angela Bettis' performance is a campy version of Sissy Spacek in Carrie.

"May" is one of those small movies that somehow falls through the cracks and never sees a theatrical release in the US. It was finally released by Lion's Gate Home Entertainment. May never made the big screen in the US because of the subject matter of the film. That's the only reason I can think of, anyhow, because otherwise this is an excellent horror/black comedy (and boy is it -black-) all the way around. The acting is rock solid , the cinematography shows flashes of absolute inspiration, the story is terrific, and the plot is something to be envied. In fact, this is probably one of the most unique films I've seen in several years, and that's probably another reason why it didn't make it into the theaters.

"May" is the story of a girl with a lazy eye and a mother who is an overbearing perfectionist. As a result, May grows up fearing imperfection and thus people in general. By the time she has reached adulthood, May has had no meaningful interaction with human beings. She's a beautiful woman with a tiny physical imperfection that has blossomed into psychological disease. She has no social skills. She can't strike up a conversation. In general, May is afraid of the world.

May keeps with her a gift that her mother gave her for her tenth birthday; a very creepy doll that can never be removed from it's glass case. The doll is, of course, May herself, and the glass case is the symbol of that which keeps May's psychosis inside. When mother gave May that doll, she also gave her a piece of advice -- "If you can't find a friend, make one."

As May tries to interact with the people around her, she comes to realize that nobody is perfect. For most people, that would be a liberating realization, but May is horrified by imperfection. She has no mental mechanism to cope with it. Instead, as she says to one of her soon-to-be-victims, "The world is filled with beautiful parts, but no beautiful wholes." May's course becomes clear to her in a moment of psychotic inspiration; she'll take all the beautiful parts and, using her skills as a seamstress, make herself a friend who is a beautiful whole.

Suddenly, a film about a pixyish girl with no social grace becomes a modern day interpretation of "Frankenstein". Things get weird. Very, very weird.

This is, overall, a near-great film that stands as perfect testimony to the blandness of big screen cinema in the US. I strongly recommend it.

"May" is tragic and disturbing movie. I felt really sorry for her. The movie has a very unique look to it all. The power behind all the death in the movie was the creepy little doll inside the glass case. It's sad what happens in this movie, but I was engaged throughout. God bless poor May.

It's all supposed to be one of those "degeneration into madness movies" in this case caused by a female Oedipus complex. It's not much of a horror film then. The only really nasty moment is five minutes from the end and even that was done much better in "Betty Blue".

Great premise. It takes a long time to get into the gore, but that time is more than worth it in character development. The only thing I didn't really like was the ending - it was good but it could've been better.

Adam: Whatcha readin' about?
May: Amputation.
Adam: Is that for work?
May: Nope. It's just for fun.

A strange, indie horror movie about a shy girl who desires friendship. It's hard to describe without giving away the movie, but there are a number of good horror moments and some twisted scenes sprinkled throughout. The ending is also particularly creepy.