KWEENY REVIEWS MAY
For the last day of May Monster Madness, I thought I’d do a
movie that is very special to me. It’s a movie about the loss of innocence, and
how we can create our own monsters. Also, I thought it would kind of fun to
review a movie called May. Because May is one of my favorite Monster Mavens.
May is the story of a very sheltered girl, who happens to
have a lazy eye. To her, it’s a terrible deformity, one her own mother
instilled a sort of shame about. When she is younger, she cannot make friends,
because her mother forces her to wear an eye patch to cover it. Since she can’t
make friends, for one of her birthday’s she is given a doll companion named
Suzie.
But Suzie must remain behind glass.
Throughout poor May’s upbringing she is lonely, and socially
stunted. She doesn’t know how to relate to others, and when she develops a
crush on another boy with “lovely hands” she doesn’t realize that ultimately,
she’s weirder than him. Hell, she’s weirder than most people.
But there is a beautiful innocence to May, and Angela Bettis
plays her with such depth you feel for the poor girl. She’s so flawed and
broken and yet glorious, and when the end comes and we see her spirit crushed,
we know that action is going to cause some dire consequences. This movie warns
us to watch out for the quiet ones, but it also tells us that monsters can be
created, and rather easily.
Also, if you love Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as I do, you
can see a few nods to that story in this movie. The story is unique and twisted, the cinematography is
beautiful, and May makes some of the most unique outfits you’ll ever see on
screen. The movie starts with a
startling gory scene, but I assure you the gore in this film serves a purpose. Lucky McKee directed this gem in 2002, and it's not fast paced, but it does move with a purposeful grace. When we reach the
final, grisly end, it’s very satisfying.
I would recommend May to all tragically broken monsters,
especially those created by careless handling.
I have a soft spot for May. It was one of the first movies I got from Netflix back when I was a subscriber. It's hard for me to think of her as a monster despite everything she does.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to end MMM!
I have to admit I've never heard of May, but then this blog hop has given me a few pointers to new material in the genre :) Thanks for the rec.
ReplyDeleteSophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
LOVE May.
ReplyDeleteI love this flick!! Its an undergroung classic. I meet Angela Bettis a few years back she was super cool!! We watched Dawn of the Dead together. For those who have not seen this movie check it out.
ReplyDeleteMay actually inspired me to make my own Puppet Master figures. i love this tragic little psuedo-slasher flick!
ReplyDeleteExcellent review, as always. I want to see this movie so bad because I can relate to the 'loss of innocence' part. (Pretty sure a lot of us can.) Looks so good.
ReplyDeleteGreat review for one of the most unique gorror films of the last 20 years. Still Angela Bettis's finest performance, still Lucky McKee's best film.
ReplyDeleteMay is one of my FAVORITES! Angela Bettis play "broken" like no one else and I love a good "underdog" film.
ReplyDelete