May

Rating:
Summary: Weird...I like Weird.
Review: Poor choice of words for May's boyfriend. I've seen a large number of slasher/killer/zombie/gore movies and still I got ill at the end of this one. I almost closed my eyes at the inevitable ending, but I was to mystified to turn away.

Well acted and profoundly disturbing. If you see it at the local block buster, rent it...you won't be disappointed.

Two thumbs up...(i wonder if May would appreciate my thumbs?))

Rating:
Summary: Truly engrossing movie (and I mean a pun ...)
Review: This is a great character study. It is highly disturbing and mildy scary. It is not scary in the sense that you are scared of things jumping out at you, but how scary of a person that May turns out to be. It is a bit slow in the beginning, but once May gets started cuttin and stabbin, it doesn't let go. It does require you to think. You are not just given the cookie and set free to eat it, you must find out how it is made as well.
The acting is all top notch as well. An all to often ingredient lacking in other horror movies. Any fan of the horror genre will not be disappointed. Neither will most fans of any genre. This is one that will disturb all people. And that is a good thing.

Rating:
Summary: Devastating little movie...
Review: I rented this after reading a reivew by Roger Ebert who gave May 4 out of 4 stars. I love movies that leave me stunned at the end. Angela Bettis was brilliant as was the supporting cast. The first 45 minutes of the movie were well paced for my taste letting us gradually see the changes in May and why she did the things she did. I only hope that the writer/director continues to put out unusual, interesting films with characters as well drawn as May.

Rating:
Summary: creepy, bloody thriller
Review: "May" is "Carrie" minus the telekinesis and the crazy, domineering mother. Actually, the latter has been replaced by an eerie doll that the mentally deranged heroine believes controls her thoughts and actions.

In his debut as both writer and director, Lucky McKee delivers a creepy, relatively understated tale of madness and murder. Unlike many horror film directors, McKee allows the terror to build slowly, putting the audience in a state of expectant unease from the very start. May is a severely psychologically disturbed young woman whose "weirdness" first attracts people, then repels them when they realize that that weirdness is far more real and far more deadly than anything they'd ever bargained for. McKee has some fun with the notion that many people - i.e. the dabblers in the grotesque and the macabre, in other words, fans of films like this - may THINK they know what they like, but, like the rest of us, they run at the first sign of any real trouble.

The biggest weakness of "May" is that it often defies credibility. Although Angela Bettis is terrific in the title role, May herself is so full of twitches and tics that one is amazed that she hasn't been institutionalized long before this, let alone that she is allowed to work with injured animals and blind children. Similarly, her lesbian coworker, who sucks her thumb and practically drools at the slightest hint of anything bizarre, gives May a run for her money in the psycho-in-the-making sweepstakes. Moreover, there's a receptionist at a day school for handicapped children who wouldn't last two seconds on the job in the real world.

Despite these few flaws, "May" does succeed as an unnerving exercise in twisted morbidity - at least up to a point. That point is passed when the movie, in its final stages, turns into a bizarrely bloody variant on the "Frankenstein" theme, with dismembered body parts strewn from one end of the screen to the other. That's when all but the most strong-stomached and seasoned horror film aficionados will have likely tuned the movie out.

In addition to Bettis, Jeremy Sisto and Anna Faris turn in excellent performances as the hapless "friends" and ultimate victims of this insane young woman. "May" reveals these three fine performers and McKee as talents well worth keeping (as opposed to poking) an eye out for.

Rating:
Summary: Will make you SQUIRM
Review: A delightfully twisted dark comedy/horror about a misfit girl-woman whose only friend for some 20 years has been a doll she's not allowed to touch. May works as a veterinarian's assistant, makes her own quilted clothing, and has fallen madly in love with a really beautiful guy...ESPECIALLY HIS HANDS!!! Guy is pretty weird too, likes to make really strange movies that make your stomach turn a bit. If that wasn't enough, May nearly de-lips him with a bite that is bloodier than your monthly visitor!!! Having scared the guy off, May takes up with Anna Faris, makes friends with blind kids and adopts a kitty named Loopy. There were so many scenes that made me squirm!!! the ones that stand out are when Suzie finally comes out of her dollbox and little hands and eyes are scratched with broken glass (ugh!!!) So be warned, this movie MAY be the bloodiest, more disturbingly squirm-worthy flick you've seen in a long spell, but it's still a movie I recommend for horror buffs!!!

Rating:
Summary: How I came to meet May
Review: One totally normal day, on my weekly visit to my local Blockbuster (i know. i have no life), I passed a picture of a pale young woman with various sharp objects arched over her head. Being a lover of horror flicks, I simply had to find out about this "May." The movie's description told me about a typical crazy girl who goes on a jolly killing spree and collects body parts to make herself the perfect companion. It didn't sound like anything new, but I saw Wes Craven's positive comment on the back. After returning the other two evening new release rental to the shelf, I went home expecting to see a slasher movie. What I got was much different... and much more. Here was May, a poor, lonely girl who was rejected by the world. But then came that special day. "I saw someone today: a boy." As the film progressed, I noticed how perfectly every detail was woven (or stitched) into the story. I also noticed that most of the other characters were also some sort of rejects. A lesbian couple, a goth, a punk, the blind children, even the boyfriend was a little strange. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against those types of people. I, myself, am also different. May was the most diverse, and yet her emotions were completely normal. All she wanted was a friend. It was too bad that things didn't turn out so well, but what's a movie without a plot? I found May to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. It was one of those rare films where you actually felt for the main character, and with May, I felt deeply. My rental on that totally normal day anything but normal. May, you took my heart.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment. Not Scary and Too Obvious
Review: Was really looking forward to this one and finally caught it this
weekend and was bummed that I didn't like it. It wasn't at all scary,
some of it was even unintentionally funny, and I thought the lead
performance was self-conscious and mannered . And I don't know if the ending was
supposed to be a surprise but it sure was telegraphed way in advance. The supporting characters are all one-dimensional.

Rating:
Summary: I am doll parts....
Review: I can see why this movie went nowhere....the subject matter is extremely dark psychologically. How can sweet, shy May Kennedy turn into this utter monster who likes to, err....'sew' things together??? I won't ruin the ending for anyone, but suffice it to say it is one of the all time CREEPIEST things you'll ever see. And I'm someone who watches "Operation" on the Learning Channel while eating kidney stew! NOT for the feint of heart.

What makes this film uneasy to watch is the lack of music during the particular gory scenes. The music does not jump at you when May does what she does. The pacing is slow and deliberate which reveals May's shyness. It is clear this is not a character who's comfortable around people and yet she pushes herself to deal with them. The results are awkward and disturbing. It's this sympathy you have for May that makes her wicked deeds later on so shocking. You can understand why she commits these heinous acts, but it's very hard to watch. The gore is not that bad, as other reviews have stated, it's the psychology behind it that make it difficult. This gentle person has been socialized in an awkward way, so it's only a matter of time before she snaps. I think I'll wait a while before watching this one again, it really stayed with me. For a horror movie? I'd call it good filmmaking. Judge for yourself, it's worth a rental.

Rating:
Summary: A sick movie but captivating
Review: This is a really sick movie but I couldn't stop watching it. The movie is promoted as a horror film, but the first hour was rather tame. May is a shy, nerdy kid who has a lazy eye who develops a crush on a guy who really doesn't seem to like her. When things don't work out, she goes for the ultimate revenge. The way that the film unfolds is just uneccessary gore and makes the quality of a human life seem frivolous. My only hope is that no one gets any ideas from this movie. Nonetheless, I still would recommend this film to a horror movie buff. This creepy movie even gave me nightmares.

Rating:
Summary: May is Great
Review: Have you ever tried to figure out what something is when your eyes are closed? You grab something round its cool and smooth to the touch. It feels solid so it's not some kind of Nerf ball or anything. Here you are standing in the middle of a room clutching something and you can't quite tell what it is. The object was an apple, but that's not the point.

MAY the new film by first time director Lucky McKee is just that kind of movie. At first maybe it's a romance, then again maybe it's a thriller, hmm.... Maybe it's some kind of comedy, light hearted or dark. At first glance you might just think it's a horror film. But May doesn't aspire to labels, it lives in that world beyond them and that's what works and doesn't work for a film like this.

MAY is one of those movies like Mullholland Drive, From Dusk 'Til Dawn, or Femme Fatale. There is a moment in the film that will either grab you and pull you in, or turn you off and produces nothing but loathing. For me that moment came as the blind kids are well.... I don't think I want to share that sequence with you, but for me it worked.

MAY tells the story of a young women named May (Angela Bettis, Girl Interrupted) who seems really sweet on the outside, with just a touch of crazy attached. She had an overbearing mother (Merle Kennedy, Bubble Boy) who wanted her little girl to be perfect. It's just too bad she needed to wear an eye patch to correct a lazy eye. The kids in school all laughed and called her a pirate. To comfort the girl or make her crazy the film doesn't really say, May's mother gives her a prized possession, a freaky looking doll that has to stay in pristine condition in a glass box.

Somehow May survives this weird childhood and grows up to be stable but a little nuts. She falls for a guy with perfect hands (Jeremy Sisto, Wrong Turn) and a girl she works with (Anna Faris, Scary Movie) falls for her. Everything is perfect until these people turn their back on May, and well that's when the fun begins....

Angela Bettis is excellent; she is really beautiful, really vulnerable, and really expressive without doing much. She gives May this quality that is understated and yet still intense. I like how she says more with one look than lots of silly dialogue. She very much reminded me of a female Travis Bickle. She has a longing for what she can not have and is dealing with it the only way she know how.

Like in TAXI DRIVER, there is a moment when May is on the phone with Adam (the Sisto character) and he wants nothing to do with her anymore. Anyone else would have gotten the point. But not May and so when the realization comes, just as when Travis Bickle was dumped by Betsey something inside both of them snaps.

Another bright spot is Anna Faris. Why she pigeonholed herself in those stupid comedies is beyond me. She is excellent as May's lesbian workmate. She is bright and spunky and really funny. I'd love to see her do some more legitimate acting work. Hopefully this is the kind of film that she could use to get better roles. Who knows!!!

Director McKee makes it look easy. He has crafted a fascinating look into the eyes of a crazy person, by doing what few films can. He allows us to see that part of ourselves that is manifested in May. We've all at one time or another been treated [bad], made fun of, been ridiculed, and maybe some of us have tried to go over the deep end. I felt pity for May even if I shouldn't have. This is a powerful movie, and one of the best I've seen all year.

If Hollywood ever got off its rear end and decided that a film like MAY deserved to be shown at the same multiplex as FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY maybe their would be better quality films out there that the general market could consume. Until then it will probably only be discovered by lovers of film. I guess that's not so bad.

There are probably others out there that could find fault in a film like MAY. It's that kind of cinema, either you love it or your hate it. There is not much middle ground. But do yourself a favor, go and rent this movie.