Who--or What?--Is Mama?

Rating: 7/10 (4 February 2013)

Victoria and Lily. Two young girls discovered in an abandoned cabin in the woods, far from any other humans. The girls are wild, filthy, and have learned to walk crab-like on all fours. And they claim that while they were out there, they had a guardian MAMA, starring Jessica Chastain (ZERO DARK THIRTY) and Neill Cross, is a far cry from most modern horror films. It's not a slasher film, and the plot is built as much around character and drama as it is scares. There's little blood, and director Andres Muschietti relies upon shadow, careful framing, and the power of the viewer's imagination to generate scares instead of cheap of shocks.
For the most part, it's a winning formula. Ghost stories succeed because of a certain eeriness which other types of scary movies usually lack, and Muschietti wisely devotes a great deal of screen time to building a foreboding sense of mystery around his characters and the situation they find themselves in. And those characters are believable as people, not merely victims-in-waiting. Chastain and Cross are excellent as the young couple struggling to give Victoria and Lily a home after they are rescued from their primitive existence in the forest, and naturally neither they nor the girls' doctor (Daniel Kash) believe the children's stories of "Mama" who supposedly took care of them while they were in the forest. Gradually, however, the makeshift family seems invaded by a strange presence, a dark form that comes and goes at will and which only the girls can see.
For the first half of the film, MAMA is gloriously scary. The fear of the alien and unknown is played up to great effect, and there are a number of very subtle but chilling moments when Mama's presence is definitely felt even though nothing is seen. Later, as the film builds towards its somewhat ambiguous yet moving climax, the movie unleashes a barrage of rather artificial computer generated effects that undo a great deal of the underlying mystery. Frankly, Mama is scarier when you can't see her than when you finally can.
MAMA isn't one of the great horror films, but it is worth seeing. It creates a menacing atmosphere that is a world apart from gorier horror films and the storyline is inherently life affirming and a great testament to the value of family and power of love to inspire and surprise us. If you like horror films but don't want to leave the theater splattered with blood, MAMA may serve up the more subtle chills the genre often lacks.