A flat tyre of a movie on the highway of bleh!

Rating: 5/10 (9 June 2013)

Mama is a drama movie, masquerading as a horror movie. The problem with this is, that it has been marketed as a horror movie and horror fans rightly expect horror. What is presented instead is more of an attempt at psychological drama with a few jump scares stirred into the mix.
Mama tells the story of two little girls who have through a series of tragic events been raised as feral children in the mysterious wilds by an entity which they refer to only as Mama. Through another inexplicable series of events the girls come to live with their uncle and aunt, whom has no maternal urges whatsoever. As the story progresses it becomes evident that Mama may not simply be an imaginary friend.
As a psychologist, I found lots and lots wrong with this film. The psychologists in the film, do not speak or behave like psychologists or researchers would, they do not use the parlance of scientists and are unconvincing characters. As a rule, if you are going to include expert characters in your movie, you should at the very least do your research in order to make these characters plausible. The fact that the expert characters in this film come across as unconvincing detracts from the power of the story heavily. In works of fiction it's not always important that information should be factually accurate, it is important that it is convincing however and Mama fails on this count.
To be fair, the youngest child does in some accurate way display some of the developmental deficits that would be expected in a feral child, but only lip service is paid to this as a plot device. It may have been more interesting to elaborate on that particular theme.
Jessica Chastain is woefully miscast in this film, as a primary character she is entirely unconvincing as a emo rock chick. Snarling and huffing her way though the early stages of the movie in a horrendously laughable wig, she miraculously transforms into a tiger mother practically overnight. I understand that she is a fine actress, and I'm sure she is tired of being typecast but taking on this role has done absolutely nothing to assist her. Her attempt at being a scream queen has effectively crashed and burned right here.
The narrative of this film is somewhat tedious, there is unnecessary padding and emphasis on the emotional which is not given any proper context or explanation. Just when the viewer comes to accept that Mama is a psychological drama some supernatural elements are crudely dumped into the plot. The result is neither something or nothing, what could have been a compelling psychological thriller is transformed into a poor attempt at a horror movie.
As a horror film, Mama isn't scary or even remotely chilling and there are no surprises between the plot holes. it is very difficult to build a rapport with the characters as they are unconvincing eye candy and there is not enough of a coherent back story to encourage the viewer to care about their lives.
Honestly there is nothing offensive about Mama, but there is nothing particularly memorable about it either. It is about as average and boring as a film can be which is always a disappointment.
In short- Fellow horror fans, stay away and give this one a wide berth, it isn't horror. Horror fan to horror fan take my word for it this is a mainstream attempt at the genre, an internet meme of a movie and a waste of your time.
Everyone else- If you are a massive chicken or a small child you might find this scary. If you are a bit thick you might find it clever or emotionally moving. If you are a normal person of normal intellect you are just likely to be very bored.