Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?
While well executed, Muschietti's feature debut lacks the originality and flair to have much staying power, though it ends on a high with an unexpected, oddly bittersweet conclusion.
First time director Andrés Muschietti shows talent and confidence in the first hour, letting us catch only peripheral glimpses of the unearthly Mama while letting the excellent Nélisse and Charpentier run feral through the plot. Unfortunately both the story and the effects take a slide into silliness in the third act, as the open-ended short lurches into a melodramatic conclusion that chimes with del Toro’s taste for fairytale excesses.
Despite story problems and overuse of good effects, this has enough shocks and screams to make a decent thrill ride.
First time co-writer/director Andy Muschietti deploys a couple of niftily handled reveals early on, suggesting the film is going to proceed with similar levels of imagination. Instead, it gradually falls apart the more Muschietti feels the need to explain Mama’s backstory.
Sadly, the last third falls apart in a daft muddle of ancient curses and maternal frenzies. I was only surprised that the cute dachshund survived unscathed.
Scary at first, dull later.
It has been converted into a proficient, machine-tooled horror flick, stuffed full of shocks and buttressed with back-story. Mama got so flabby the second time around.
Atmospheric and initially quite intriguing Mama turns more conventional once the lights start flickering and things go bump in the night but it is still a superior supernatural shocker.
There are plenty of easy shocks, but the things that go bump in the night have little psychological resonance.
Del Toro's bittersweet sensibility is approximated for a surprisingly twisted and satisfying climax that goes some way to making up for preceding lapses in logic, so overall Mama should leave viewers cautiously optimistic for whatever Muschietti does next.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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