Mama
Victoria and Lily (Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse), who are left in the woods for 5 years after their father goes missing in a fit of extreme depression and rage. Brought back into society the two are bizarrely feral, something kept them alive in the woods, but it hardly seems human. Now it’s up to the girl’s uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) to rehabilitate and raise the girls as best they can. But a dark and twisted force seems to be at play—Mama, the “thing†that kept the girls alive in the woods has followed the girls to their new home. What does Mama want, and can the family give it to her?
Sufficiently creepy, Director Andres Muschietti, employs a handful of scare tactics to work on the psychology of the audience, turning the thumbscrews just right to elicit appropriate squirming in your seat. Albeit, some of the subplots come across a little trite or too convenient, but the general premise is still solid. Conjuring imagery from something Grimm, haunting musical scoring that feels inspired by Danny Elfman, stirred in with the blood and art of Tim Burton and del Toro, this sinister tale will spook you but leave you with a smile. Mama is rated PG-13.