Jessica Chastain is the only good thing about this

Rating: 6/10 (17 January 2013)

"Mama" concerns two young girls abandoned in the woods by their murderous father, who went on a killing spree following an unexplained financial crisis. His story is never really resolved, and its point is only to deliver the girls to the woods. The girls take refuge in an empty cabin and are overseen by a protective spirit. They are found later by a doctor in a feral condition and taken in by their uncle and his edgy, band member girlfriend (Jessica Chastain), who is reluctant to take on any kind of parental role. We soon find out that the spirit of "Mama" follows the girls and is protective and jealous of any other parental figure in the girls' lives. After the uncle is injured after a fright from the spirit, Chastain's character has to take on the role of sole protector, and comes to find affection for the girls. The arrival of Mama's spirit is heralded by moths, whose symbolism is never quite clear, though perhaps they represent reincarnation.
This movie started out as averagely good PG-13 horror. There are no false scares in the movie; all the jumps have payoffs. Chastain's character is well-drawn and I'm impressed with her ability to transform physically and sink emotionally into a role. Her role might be appealing to women who are sick of seeing brain dead maternal type women as caretakers in horror movies.
Soon, however, a lot of the plot devices become laughable. Flashback scenes do not quite make sense and are filmed in a bizarre jerky daguerreotype style that made the preview audience laugh. A throwaway librarian character (a harbinger, if you've seen Cabin in the Woods) gives a ridiculous, melodramatic speech about ghosts and their unresolved conflicts that prompted unintended laughter. There are logical inconsistencies as well. Upon the discovery of the girls (five years later, we are told), it appears that the crashed car is just yards off of the main highway and the cabin not too far from that. The cabin has some modern touches that lead us to believe it is not as old as the spirit that inhabits it. There is a scene of possession of a minor character that is very poorly handled and finds no great resolution. And, typical for horror, it seems whenever the characters go in to search the cabin it's always the dead of night.
I will not describe the ending, but many people will feel cheated and offended at the vagueness and lack of satisfactory comeuppance. Some may feel we've followed the story for nothing, or have been lead to sympathize with the wrong characters when the movie wants us to follow other characters' trajectories.
All in all, I'd wait to stream this one and skip paying for it theatrically.