Mama

Published on March 14th, 2013

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Mama
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Directed by: Andres Muschetti
Reviewed by Danielle Muir

Three and a Half Stars

There’s nothing like a good old supernatural scary story to give the imagination a stretch.  Executive Produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Mama is not so much a horror as it is a classic ghost fable set in modern times.  The scares aren’t as intense and there’s not much blood to be spilt (refreshingly so), however the intriguing characters, unpredictable nature and fantastical villain liken Mama to films such as The Woman in Black rather than your typical Hostel-style bloodbath horror.

And so it goes, a distressed man snatches up his two young daughters, having just murdered his wife and with the intent to do the same to the girls.  Stumbling into a mysterious cabin, he’s about to do the deed when a groaning, ghostly force ends him instead.  Fast-forward five years later, the girls are discovered – animalistic, filthy and barely human having survived on cherries and adapted to their environment.  The girls’ uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) gains custody, and attempts to care for them alongside his reluctant Goth girlfriend Annabel (Chastain) – however some odd goings-on in the house suggests that something has followed them from the cabin and reaching the girls.  As they reveal more about an unknown mother figure, lives are continuously put at risk as gradually they uncover the secret…who or what is Mama?

Mama gets props for its originality, performances, fantastical score and eerie other-worldly presence but ultimately, it’s not as scary as it strives to be.  Creepy, certainly – but the jump scares are the only thing to fear other than Mama’s guttural drone.  The cast are all brilliant, with the children and their rabid grudge-like scooting up and down the hallways very eerie, with the elder daughter Victoria torn between the figures of her past and present.  Jessica Chastain’s all mouth, black and tude’, playing – wait for it – the bass player in a hard rock band, a far cry from the ethereal ‘Mrs O’Brien’ in The Tree of Life.  Whilst she drives the film and you understand her distaste at being thrust into caring for the girls, but her over-the-top get f**cked attitude is a bit too much to refrain from giggling at.  Uncle Lucas is perfectly adequate but spends most of the film incapacitated so doesn’t really exceed expectations.

The most fascinating parts of the film come from the girls’ therapy sessions with psychologist Dr Dreyfuss, where pieces of the puzzle reveal themselves through clues and flashbacks to the cabin.  Along with growing intrigue into the mysterious oozing stains in the walls and what exactly the sisters seem to be playing with at all hours, there are some terrific little titbits to be enjoyed.  One pointer though is the age-old notion that our imagination is far scarier than anything that can be put on our screen – perhaps it’s that we see far too much of Mama that the impact of her appearance is weakened.

Mama is a decent scary ghost story with some great performances and hell, at least its original – however if you’re a lover of horror then this is probably not the tale you were expecting.