Mama

The Mothmom Possibly.

Mama is directed by Andres Muschietti and written by Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Neil Cross. It stars Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash, Javier Botet and Jane Moffat. Music is by Fernando Velazquez and cinematography by Antonio Riestra.

A Suicidal father abducts his two young daughters and takes them to a cabin out in the woods, his intention is to kill them. Before he can enact his plan he is killed by a strange entity, leaving the two girls alone in the cabin. Years later the girls are discovered in the cabin, completely feral and when any sense can finally be made out of them, they talk of being looked after by someone they call Mama; And it seems Mama has come back with them to civilisation…

Based on his own 2008 Argentinian short of the same name, Andres Muschietti expands the idea out to a full length feature film. With pretty decent results as well. Pic is a supernatural fairytale, thick on ethereal atmosphere and not over reliant on boo jumps or an adherence to blood and guts spilling just to put bums on seats. From the moment the girls are found, scampering around the wood cabin on all fours, clearly having survived on cherries for five years, there’s an uneasy feel to the story. We already know there is a spirit involved as we half glimpsed “Mama” during the pre-credits sequence, what we need now is a good story and a healthy quota of frights and peril for Waldau and Chastain as they become surrogate parents to the troubled youngsters; And again, Mama mostly delivers all that is required of it for a good night in by the fire whilst perched on the edge of your seat.

Chastain is excellent as the punk rock chick reluctantly mothering two children before her time, the two girls, Charpentier and Nelisse, are also top draw, exuding the sadness and confusion that children of that age would obviously be feeling under these circumstances. While their reactions to what w...

Some wicked creature design and good child actors make up for Mama's "unfinished" feeling. Jessica Chastain delivers as usual.

Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.

Inconstant, it starts well, but it gets worse and becomes tiring and boring. The ending is bad.

Guillermo del Toro has already used us to visually striking and intense films, so I was little surprised to find his name attached to this film. I even thought that he would be the director, but the direction was in charge of Andy Muschietti, and Del Toro is just an executive producer, in a gesture that seems just a publicity stunt. In any case, the film is not bad, and it even manages to create some tension and suspense… but it is still far from being a truly good horror film, mainly because of its inconstancy.

When I say inconstancy, what I mean is that the film changes radically in the middle, for the worse: the script starts with a good initial premise, which is the death of the parents of the two children, who end up alone in a cabin in the woods. Five years later, however, they are found again in a mental and psychological state that borders on the wild. However, and in the midst of the legal battle for their custody, it becomes evident to those who care for them that the two children have conversations with an invisible entity, which they call Mama. Intense and disturbing, the film creates an impactful situation, with characters that we can like and that hold us to the film. The supernatural situation is intriguing, and the creature created for the film is intimidating and truly terrifying. At various times, I noticed similarities with cinematographic works like The Exorcist and The Orphanage. So far, all great.

The problem is that, roughly halfway through, the film loses its momentum, so to speak. It's as if the director had changed, or the film's idea had been different, or they were different films. Everything becomes gradually more predictable, boring, uninteresting and tiring, and the scares and suspense gradually decrease. The creature, which before only appeared furtively and for a moment, is now fully visible, and that takes a lot of impact...

Mama expands a chilling short film into a full-length feature exploring the dark, twisted depth of maternal love. With strong performances from its young cast and atmospheric visuals, it builds an eerie tone, though some rushed storytelling and underdeveloped character arcs leave room for improvement. Despite its flaws, the film delivers a compelling supernatural tale worth watching.

Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com) and (English version : uwiepuspita.com)