Cast: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier
Director: Andrés Muschietti
Country: Spain | Canada
Genre: Horror
Official Trailer: Here
Mama opened on Friday January 18th. For an additional perspective on the film see Pete Volk’s review.
The simple ghost story structure has been transformed into a compelling drama with jump scares. Sadly, the resulting film fails in fully satisfying either genre demands. You’ll either get a mediocre horror film or a mediocre dysfunctional family adventure depending on your inclination. It’s the risk one takes in birthing a hybrid. However, regardless of the outcome, the courageous breaking of form can stand alone as something to be commended… or at least a pat on the back is in order.
Insert here the usual bumps in the night and fairly uninspired suspense sequences, with the exception of one involving the children’s closet and an inquisitive pseudo-mom played by Jessica Chastain.
In Mama, the plot unfolds like an old fable; something whispered about by the campfire, or perhaps more appropriately, at the top of an eerie cliff surrounded by grey, reaching clouds. After the harrowing deaths of their parents and several years living in the wild, two orphans finally find a new home with their estranged uncle and his reluctant girlfriend. Their lifestyle adjustment is slow, but hopeful. Following and helping the children in secret is an enraged spirit of a scorned mother longing for her own child. Insert here the usual bumps in the night and fairly uninspired suspense sequences, with the exception of one involving the children’s closet and an inquisitive pseudo-mom played by Jessica Chastain.
Now you may be asking yourself: “when do the skeletal remains come in?” Well, look no further than the final reel! There you’ll find the usual sentiment of a disgruntled spirit finally laid to rest by the emotional reuniting of body and soul. In this case, it’s the skeleton of the ghost mom’s child that’s meant to bring her some kind of closure. This is where the usual ghost story plotline is broken. The spirit is revealed not as a ghoulish supernatural force to be dispelled, but rather a full-fledged character with thoughts and desires. It has grown to love the two young orphans and decides to continue its assault on the living in a desperate attempt to hold onto the children she raised, albeit from beyond the grave.
So now we measure what is worth more: the archetypal story or the hybrid? Are stories of unrelenting ghoulish creatures a thing of the past? Should we embrace the more compassionate, rational view of this modern ghost story? Perhaps both sides have their merits.
Once the film reaches this moment, we’ve arrived at new, or at least rarely trotted territory. We find a collision between the terror induced by a spectral uncompromising villain and the overwhelmingly sympathetic emotional core of a lonely, misunderstood spirit. Both these conflicting reactions exist in the same character, which helps in creating a dramatically satisfying story, but not one that’s all that scary. So now we measure what is worth more: the archetypal story or the hybrid? Are stories of unrelenting ghoulish creatures a thing of the past? Should we embrace the more compassionate, rational view of this modern ghost story? Perhaps both sides have their merits.
Hybrids that twist the traditional plot like Mama or Cabin in the Woods are great advances in a genre that’s constantly reinventing itself. That being said, the archetype of the ghost movie exists purely because it works and it works because there’s still something to be said about the terrifying unknown and haunting knowledge of our own inevitable end. In that sense, there will always be room for a straight up spooky ghost-fest extravaganza. Who’s to say whether or not a few more tracking shots through foggy graveyards would have strengthened Mama. The only certainty is that the film, despite its beautiful character design and refreshing plot twists, doesn’t satiate the way a good old haunted movie should. A bit more boo for your buck would have been great.
[notification type=”star”]40/100 ~ BAD. The only certainty is that Mama, despite its beautiful character design and refreshing plot twists, doesn’t satiate the way a good old haunted movie should. A bit more boo for your buck would have been great.[/notification]
