Not your usual possession story as Mother, May I delivers a unique slant on the genre and is beautifully delivered with some stellar performances. Here’s our Mother May I review.
When Anya starts behaving like her fiancée’s recently-deceased mother, Emmett must confront his deepest traumas to free his fiancee from this bewildering possession.
Our film begins with a death of an older woman, the body is collected and her son Emmett (Kyle Gallner) is notified of the death. Not someone who’s close to his mother he’s more excited about inheriting the house and selling it immediately so he and his fiancé Anya (Holland Rodeo) can start a life together.
Whilst visiting the house and getting things together ahead of its sale Anya starts to transform slowly but surely into a carbon copy of the mother who has recently passed away.
Stellar acting and chilling melodical tones drive this uneasy and quite frankly remarkable display of acting as Holland Roden becomes a vessel for Emmett’s dead mother and it’s genuinely terrifying to watch without a single jump scare or forced horror element of note.
Emmett’s strained relationship with his mother is apparent from the first frame but whilst this film hints on strained mother and son relationships it’s certainly more of a narrative driven movie which for many will become a little tiresome to watch.
Usually narrative driven movies drive me to boredom but Mother, May I kept me absolutely hooked. Certainly scenes such as Anya being afraid of water one minute to her being able to swim laps the next (Emmett’s mother was a strong swimmer) is chilling in itself as the person Emmett knows and loves is transforming infront of his very eyes.
Both Anya and Emmett have a lot of baggage and this psychology is explored throughout the movie. Both with parental issues and struggles from their past that they hold out for all to see in the real world today.
The ‘possession’ begins after Anya and Emmett take mushrooms. With Anya’s background in psychology the question is asked throughout, is she just acting like his mother? Or has she really been possessed by the mothers spirit?
Emmett’s mother was a dancer and suddenly Anya can now dance like his mother, her vocal inflection now matches that of his late mum and suddenly she starts smoking like a chimney much like his mother. used to do.
Tracy (the mother) is shown dead in the first scene but she becomes a character in her own right channeled through Anya. It’s deep stuff and captivating to watch.
The sexual undertones in this movie are incredibly weird because Emmett and Anya are a couple but when Anya transforms into his mother Emmett starts to believe it’s his mum. He’s actively trying to repair a relationship with his mother through Anya whilst Anya seems to have this balance between trying to help Emmett and trying to f**k him.
Anya and Emmett are quite clearly not related but with this ‘possession’ it certainly feels as though his mum is trying to sleep with him and that’s where I draw the line if indeed Anya was possessed by the spirit of his dead mum. That’s about as far as I go into that subject within this Mother May I review!
Whilst Mother, May I may not be a film that many people appreciate for me it delivered a unique way to terrify an audience. Yes, it’s more of a slow burn and yes it certainly won’t be for everyone but it’s unique and beautifully delivered and well worth a watch despite its open-ended ending.
Definitely more of a drama than a thriller or horror movie but certainly a film that deserves you attention for its raw, creepy and unnerving vibe alone.
Mother May I review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
Definitely more of a drama than a thriller or horror movie but certainly a film that deserves you attention for its raw, creepy and unnerving vibe alone.
