Mama
2013 · Directed by Andy Muschietti
Original language: English
- horror
The story
Guillermo del Toro presents Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night.
What it’s like
Cold blue dusk and desaturated forest greens give way to warm, lamplit interiors in this supernatural horror, with long slow dollies through empty rooms, the camera lingering on shadowed corners and half-open doors. Its sound is built on creaks, distant scrapes and a restrained, mournful string score that swells only at the scares, and much of its unease comes from what sits just out of frame. The mood is eerie and grief-soaked, a chilly, melancholy dread that settles in during quiet domestic moments and spikes sharply in bursts. The pacing is patient and atmospheric, with long stretches of tension before sudden jolts. Violence is limited to a car crash and a few startling, brief moments of terror, with no gore and no sexual content, though the frightening creature imagery and jump scares land hard. Its emotional core is a fractured new family learning to trust one another, a reluctant guardian slowly finding her way into motherhood. It suits a late-night watch with the lights low and a blanket nearby, and it is for viewers who want a ghost story that trades on atmosphere and an aching sense of loss more than on blood.
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