Movie Review: Mama

Photo: Universal

Hello Glamberous Ones!

If you recall last Trailer Thursday I teased you all with the possible review of “Broken City” this week. I received an email about a free advanced screening of the crime drama starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe but to my surprise and a mix up on my part when I arrived at the theater I ended up seeing an advance viewing of Universal’s “Mama” starring Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain instead. So without further adieu check out my Glamberous Review of “Mama” below!

Back in October Glambergirlblog featured “Mama” as a Trailer Thursday film and even then GGB didn’t have high expectations for the film. I was a little puzzled as to why Jessica Chastain would even bother doing a film on this scale when she appeared to be moving rapidly up the A list actress ladder. “Mama” lacked good visual effects and seemed like a rip off of the shattering solid effect from “Snow White and the Huntsman.” The story line was weak and didn’t flow seamlessly to me but before we get into how bad the film was I believe in a silver lining so let’s discuss the positive.

Photo: Universal

“Mama” is the story of  Annabel (Chastain) and Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) taking in Lucas’ nieces Victoria and Lily (Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse) who have been discovered abandoned in the forest after 5 years. From seeing the beginning of the film the audience knows that’s not the case. Victoria and Lily’s father apparently killed their mother and after crashing in the woods attempts to kill the girls and himself but some ghost like figure intervenes and take the father away in a very creepy effect.

The story then continues with the girls being placed under the custody of their uncle Lucas and his free-spirited girlfriend Annabel but after some freak accident Lucas winds up in a coma and Annabel is left to take care of the girls alone. Insert all the dumb and cliché elements of a horror film here. I could totally anticipate every moment that would make the audience jump or scream even down to the point where the telephone would ring or a creepy figure would appear.

Although this film was filled with cheap effects and poor dialogue I think the actors did an amazing job in the film. Chastain played an excellent grunge rocker turned mother figure in the film and the young girls who played Victoria and Lily were superb! Especially Lily played by Isabelle Nélisse. She played the youngest sibling who still didn’t develop properly outside of the wilderness and was completely smitten with the “mama” figure in the movie.

Photo: Universal

Maybe it was me half nodding off during the film and I missed parts or the lack of a good script but there are things that just were not clear and left my sister and I, who I brought with me to the screening, confused about what we saw. What was “mama” exactly? A spirit? And why was she with the girls since the beginning? Was Lily the baby that was taken from the “sad people hospital?” And is that why she always wanted to be with “mama?” So many questions and not enough answers. I didn’t particular care for this film so I would give it two Glamberous fingertips up.

“Mama” will be in theaters on Friday, January 18 so if you see it please let me know what you think!