I love ghosts, truly my favorite part of the world of horror. They fascinate me.
So for this month’s movie I chose one of my favorite ghost stories.
Co-written and directed by Andres Mushietti, with the fantastic Guillermo del Toro as executive producer, Mama hit theaters in 2013. Dude. I went.
And I was the only one in the theater.
Empty theaters are creepy…in case you wondered. The shadow play from the flickering light caused me to glance into the space around me more than once.
I had a blast!
So, the movie!
Let’s watch it, shall we? TOGETHER!
YES.
Meet Victoria and Lily Desange. Their father suffered a terrible mental break and killed their mother, then took his girls to a secluded cabin where he intended to murder them and himself. But something stops him, saves the girls.
Years later the sisters are found in the cabin.
The Desange sisters…Victoria, played by Megan Charpentier, and Lily, played by Isabelle Nelisse, from 2013 movie Mama
They’ve been living alone, become wild, animal-like. But how have they, two kids, survived alone?
Enter Uncle Luke, their father’s twin brother, and his girlfriend Annabel.
Lucas Desange, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Annabel, played by Jessica Chastain from movie Mama
They take the girls in, ready to deal with all the emotional ups and downs of being “parents”, ready to help these girls adjust to a “normal” life.
But they weren’t ready for what came with the sisters.
Mama.
scene from Mama
That is the question. One that has a dark answer.
I love when horror movies are creepy. I love when they scare me, when they show me something unexpected. What I love more is when it affects my emotions. I found myself in tears at the end, happy tears, sad tears, tears that came from a place of WHY IS THIS HAPPENING I DON’T LIKE IT BUT I DO!
Lily, Luke, Victoria, and Annabel face Mama at the end
This is a story of love, of family and the fight to hold onto it. One I haven’t been able to forget.
The strange, confusing sadness will linger, and the haunting images will too.
So, if you’re like me and have no one who will watch these scary masterpieces with you…watch with me!
Let’s watch MAMA on Friday, May 20th at 9 EST. Press play and join me on Twitter, adding your own reactions and thoughts to the live-tweet #ToroMAMA (because #Mama is full of nice motherly things).
Mama says you should…