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Movie Review: Mama (2013)

By Stina Leicht
November 1, 2013

One of the things I enjoy about horror is its connection with fairy tales. Anyone who has actually read Grimm’s Fairy Tales is aware of this association. It’s one of the reasons why Andrés Muschietti’s 2013 film, Mama , attracted me.

The story has a mundane, if tragic start fed to the audience in the form of a car radio news story — a dramatic stock market downturn results in the suicides of several members of a prominent investment firm. The abandoned car is parked in front of a beautiful house and there is a gunshot. The camera pans closer and the next scene is of a little girl named Victoria dressed for school. Her one-year-old sister is in her crib nearby. Their father arrives. His clothing is speckled with blood. Victoria asks, as all Fairy Tale heroines do, all the right questions, but her father, who is insane with grief, brushes her questions aside. He collects the girls and drives off into the wilderness with them. The car wrecks in the snow and they end up in an abandoned cabin, which is, naturally, haunted. Their father obviously intends to kill them and then himself, but the ghost saves the girls, and they spend five winters alone in the cabin, being raised by the ghost. Their father’s identical twin uses all the money their father left him in the search for the girls. Eventually, they are found and brought back to civilization by hired hunters. Their uncle and his punk rock girlfriend (Annabelle) get custody of the girls along with their new ‘Mama.’ Their mother’s sister makes a couple of vicious attempts to take the girls away.

And then things go horribly awry.

Actually, there are many things to love about this movie: the good father/bad father, the reluctant mother (both in the form of the ghost and the punk girl friend), the two orphan girls abandoned in the woods who are found by hunters, the ‘evil’ aunt…all are wonderful storytelling elements. They carry much potential for deep thought.

Sadly, the last half of the film isn’t among them. I wasn’t sure if the writers were working with female archetypes and didn’t know what to do with them — due to the fact that they only had the Hero’s Journey in their lexicon. The theory about a portal the ghost uses for access into this world dies abruptly along with the psychologist character. The ‘evil’ aunt isn’t actually all that evil. She wants the girls because their uncle is the identical twin of the man who shot her sister. [shrug] It’s logical as far motivations go. However, she plots to get the girls via a complaint to Child Protective Services and that goes nowhere. Thus, what should’ve absolutely resulted in an investigation and a very sticky situation for Annabelle ended in yet another lost opportunity for psychological tension. What began as a super-creepy fairy tale, ended in a hot mess.

I guess the reason I’m so disappointed in this film is because the first half was so good. I liked the ghost animation, up until the big reveal. (Frankly, it would’ve been cooler if Annabelle resembled ‘Mama.’) Maybe it’s just me, but an insane ghost with a realistic face is scarier than a cartoonish one. The moths were cool, but I don’t understand why Lily ate them, other than to gross out the audience. Quite a few decisions were made like that, apparently. The last half of Mama has a rushed, unfinished feeling. It’s as if they ran out of money and time and then wrapped everything up to meet the deadline. Either that, or a much better writer started the script and left it to lessers to finish. I’m not sure which. Either way, it simply doesn’t work. That said, the first half is well worth watching. Just stop at the point were the psychologist dies. Or stop just before that and write your own ending. Come to think of it, the movie would make a great Harris Burdick writing exercise.[1] Sadly, it fails as a film.

——————————-

[1] The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a picture book by Chris Van Allsburg and one of my favorites in that it doesn’t explain anything. It consists of a series of fantastical images accompanied by a title and one line. The rest is left for the reader to fill in. I’ve always wanted to run a writer’s workshop exercise with it.

2013 , genre , Genre Fiction , horror , Mama , movie reviews , Movies

Stina Leicht

0 responses.

Reading this review is like reliving my own experience of the film. I felt that it had a brilliant premise and could have gone onto to some really great things, but after the psychologist went to the cabin I felt that it had begun its descent into absolute ridiculousness.

WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD

Also, when the dad was “killed” by the ghost, I honestly thought that by having the lead female then take on caring for the girls despite having no obligation to do so, it was a huge growth in the character. I thought that the writers had somewhat redeemed the movie – alas, this didn’t happen, and I left feeling disappointed.

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California Literary Review

Movie review: mama.

Mama Don’t Allow

For any director hoping to bring visions of terror and wonder to the screen, the patronage of Guillermo del Toro is a good place to start. Several years ago, director Andres Muschietti made a tiny and very creepy short film called Mamá about two little girls fleeing from something whose appearance seems a crude mockery of what children should call by that name. Now, with del Toro as producer, he tackles the subject again at thirty times the scale. Mama is a movie of weight and a certain dark beauty. It is unlikely to change history, and has a handful of minor problems, but it deserves more than a January release, the exile by which many unwatchable horror movies go to die quietly. Mama is not only watchable, but engaging and at times even powerful.

Victoria and Lily are sisters who, when scarcely more than toddlers, become abruptly orphaned in the woods one day. The family crisis that got them there is rather graceless and contrived, but basically the standard parental element failed them in a big way. Alone and vulnerable, they come into the care of an indistinct but monstrous entity which they learn to call “Mama.” Over several years, the girls regress to a feral state in the idyllic squalor of the forest, little suspecting that civilization wants them back.

Their uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game Of Thrones ), having bankrolled a long search for their whereabouts or remains, is rewarded at last with the homecoming of the little darlings, who now snarl, bite, and go on all fours. He takes custody of them, much to the quiet dismay of his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain), a woman whose fierce independence can be judged, in terms of movie shorthand, by her profusion of tattoos and her furious bass guitar skills. She’s got a plum gig with a generic “angry chick” rock band, but grudgingly puts it aside for the sake of the family unit. Chastain plays this role gamely and brings plenty of heart to it, but given her recent high-profile successes, particularly Zero Dark Thirty , how curious to see her issued such an on-the-nose stock character. She is less prepared for motherhood than a monster. GET IT?

No sooner are the enfants sauvages settled and on the road to rehabilitation than they begin receiving visits from their mysterious and jealous “Mama.” Their therapist (Daniel Kash) dismisses this figure as a coping technique developed for their survival in the wild. Perhaps the movie would have been stronger for exploring that ambiguity, but by this point we have seen too much not to understand the situation. The point of the story is how Lucas and Annabel will come to face facts and deal with them.

While the exposition and adult characterizations lack finesse, Victoria and Lily are vivid roles that demonstrate the good things that can happen when competent directors work with competent child actors. With or without the supernatural trappings, there is a beautiful story built into their relationship. Victoria remembers enough of her early childhood, before the woods, that she takes to language and re-civilization easily. Lily, on the other hand, spent her most crucial years as a wild child and resists all attempts to settle her down. She continues scrabbling around on all fours and sleeping on the floor. She barely speaks, and constantly gnaws on both food and whatever debris she finds lying around. There is little to no indication that she can or will let go of her imprint on Mama and the existence she represents. The young girl playing Lily is named Isabelle Nélisse, and what a marvelously fun, hammy role this must have been for her.

With such a promising idea, it is a shame that Mama relies so heavily on cheap shock scares. After a while, they acquire a rhythm that could be timed with a watch. The litany of old favorites includes Dark Shape Runs By A Window, Lights Go Off And Back On To Reveal Something Right Next To You, and Moment Of Silence And Heightened Awareness Followed By Jarring Orchestral Noise. The latter, which has surged in popularity since Robert Zemeckis made What Lies Beneath , really ought to be the subject of a ten-year ban from films, just to clear the pipes. Mama is not a movie that need justify or apologize for its frightening ideas. That Muschietti decided in favor of all that tired tinsel is a mystery and a pity.

How amazing it is to consider that there are children, just now discovering scary entertainment, for whom the wispy-haired, omni-jointed, digitally textured female wraith is as iconic a movie monster as the vampire and the killer shark. Western filmmakers have so assumed this figure as to drown out the memory of their derivation from a brief boom in Japanese horror retreads like The Ring and The Grudge , scarcely a decade ago. This is merely an observation, and not particularly a criticism of Mama, who may not be innovative but still evokes a potent case of creeps. That said, monsters like this work best in the dark. One of the movie’s chief faults lies in waving its creature too liberally before our eyes. The most unsettling (not merely shocking) moments occur when a furtive glance by Lily or Victoria indicates that Mama is lurking, but the camera declines to show us exactly where.

Although superficially courting the favor of those wanting an attention-deficit Hollywood scare flick, this film has more classic ideas on its mind. Part of the reason for its noncommittal tone is that deep down, this is not the horror film it pretends to be. There are strong hints of fantasy and legend, especially La Llorona of Latin America, peeking through the seams. It is a fairy tale, deftly inverted so that the adults are the ones having the nightmare, and the children enjoy the power of being monstrous. Slowly, working through a somber fable of what it truly means to be a mother, Annabel uncovers the means to restore order or die trying. While it may not have the elegance or gravity of Pan’s Labyrinth , Mama also has the courage to demand sacrifice in the face of terror and menace.

Ultimately, Mama gets more things right than it gets wrong. Despite its false steps and style decisions that could have used more work, the movie delivers a sufficiency of fright and a surprising measure of tenderness. It echoes the attractive qualities of several recent horror movies, without the callous nastiness of Sinister or the strained stuffiness of The Woman In Black . For Guillermo del Toro, this seems less like an overwrought pet project than the 2010 remake of Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark , which drowned for naught in lazy plotting and boring characterizations. Here, del Toro and Muschietti have unpacked the extremely compact premise of a 3-minute film into a feature presentation that, though far from airtight, seldom goes for more than a minute without something interesting to look at or consider. Mama reaches high and stumbles frequently, but never enough to lose its satisfying momentum.

Mama Trailer

Dan Fields is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Film. He has written for the California Literary Review since 2010.

He is also co-founder and animator for Fields Point Pictures, and the frontman of Houston-based folk band Polecat Rodeo.

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Dan Fields is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Film. He has written for the California Literary Review since 2010. He is also co-founder and animator for Fields Point Pictures, and the frontman of Houston-based folk band Polecat Rodeo. Google+ , Twitter

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Mama Reviews

Hits most of the expected beats of a ghost story of this nature, though the actual design of the titular character is jarring and evocative enough to stay with you well after the credits roll.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 22, 2023

Following a common trend in supernatural horror, Mama begins with a novel premise and compelling characters, but then slowly digresses into bankrupt genre clichés, rampant exposition, and formulaic boo! moments.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 20, 2022

...a little unnerving when it needs to be and creepy throughout.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 23, 2022

Mama may not be the go-to horror film, but in the season of honoring mothers, it is the perfect film for the horror fanatic.

Full Review | May 6, 2022

While [Guillermo Del Toro] only takes an executive producer credit here on Mama, I doubt more involvement would have been helpful.

Full Review | Jan 14, 2021

Connoisseurs of a more classic thriller/horror vibe will embrace the emotionally resonant and thought-provoking Mama.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 15, 2020

Promising pieces and a stylish presentation should be enough to at least recommend "Mama," but the movie never coalesces into anything greater than the sum of its parts.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 18, 2020

The first truly heinous film starring Jessica Chastain.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.2/5 | Nov 19, 2019

What might have been a great twist is wasted. Back to the drawing board for all those involved.

Full Review | Jul 30, 2019

Despite an intriguing premise and a few scenes that work really well, this is one of those horror films that get sillier as they go along.

Full Review | Apr 11, 2019

Never quite feels like the sum of its parts, devolving disappointingly into a nuts 'n' bolts chiller with sparse originality of its own.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 9, 2019

Chastain is certainly the biggest reason to see Mama, but... The young actresses playing the girls can hold their own.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 18, 2018

One of the few horror films that feels more character-driven and isn't just a monster-of-the-week jump scare fest.

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Nov 1, 2018

While Mama is occasionally hamstrung by cliches, it is a stylish and effective ghost story that lives up to its promise, delivering spine-tingling scares.

Full Review | Aug 21, 2018

It will make you shiver with fear, but it might also make you question what passes for "natural" when it comes to motherhood.

Full Review | May 23, 2018

While its finale gestures at something emotional, getting there involves mucho familiar multiplex filler: loud screeches and some pretty silly business involving the girls' sinister way with wax crayons.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 1, 2017

Good acting can't forgive bad effects or narrative choices, and yes, there are a lot of those.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 9, 2017

While Del Toro uses fantasy elements to reach deeper into childhood fear (see Pan's Labyrinth), Mama has flashes of terror then sets back to be, at best, routine.

Full Review | May 10, 2016

Clearly suffers from post-production tinkering but offers some decent chills at its best moments.

Full Review | Aug 24, 2015

If horror movies can be regarded for their degree of effort, then here is one of the hardest-working of the recent past.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 26, 2014

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