May (2002)

Directed by Lucky McKee

Starring: Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, and Anna Faris

Genre: Horror, Psychological Thriller

Rated: R

May (Bettis) never had many friends growing up. As a child she had a lazy eye and was forced to wear an eye patch, leading the other children to ridicule her. On her birthday, her mother gives her a doll named Suzy that must be kept in her glass case at all times. She tells May, “If you can’t find a friend, make one.” Years later, May is a very pretty, but shy and lonely young woman working at a veterinary office and living alone. She longs to be seen as who she is and loved for it, but as the people she befriends reject her, she descends slowly into madness.

I will forewarn you now, if you are looking for an action-packed gore-fest, you will be disappointed. Nothing violent happens until the final third of the film. For the majority of the movie, we actually get to know May and her acquaintances. We see how socially awkward she is, and how her new friends accept that, but start to pull away as more of her weirdness reveals itself. The audience really gets a feel for May, Adam and Polly as the movie progresses – which is a rarity in a lot of recent horror. 

Adam (Sisto) is a handsome film student who works as a laborer during the day. He’s a horror movie fanatic and has even created a few of his own. After conversing in a Laundromat, he and May begin dating. Polly (Faris) is the secretary at the veterinary clinic where May works. The two also have a blossoming relationship.

All three characters are played very well. Jeremy Sisto made Adam a man I’d love to be with (handsome, sweet, and a horror fanatic? Yes, please!) and Anna Faris definitely brought out the seductive free spirit in Polly. Angela Bettis’s performance seals the film together, though. She does little things (like smiling while telling a disturbing story) that show her character is just a little out-there. I also loved how her voice is meek and quiet in the beginning of the film, and then becomes much stronger and more confident as she becomes more unhinged.

I also liked how the film was littered with metaphor. For instance, after every negative experience May has, the glass on Suzy’s case begins to crack. Also, the motif of sight is used heavily throughout the film (her lazy eye, the blind children, etc.) It showed that a modern horror movie can be both violent and intelligent.

I did wonder, however, what made May the way she was. That is never really explained. Though, I guess, in a way, it’s better to use the imagination, than to be force-fed the clichéd back-story of abuse that they put in most recent horror films.

I enjoyed this film. It was nice to sit down and watch a slow-paced, intelligent film from my favorite genre. I thought the director and the cast did a great job and I liked how it focused more on the character development than the blood and guts (though there definitely is some of that!).  I recommend this for those who enjoy a good story with their horror.

7/10