Mother, May I?

Mother, May I is categorized as a horror/thriller. Just the mindset I was in tonight, a good, hopefully scary movie. Well it turned out to be a huge disappointment. It's not a horror movie at all, or I must have missed something, and even as a thriller it didn't do the job. Instead what you get is a boring story, very repetitive and at a slow pace. The acting fron the small cast was just okay, nothing mesmerizing at all. Writer/director Laurence Vannicelli didn't convince me at all. It for sure doesn't want me to watch other movies from Laurence Vannicelli. I really wonder why they would categorize this one as horror.

Mother, May I, or paraphrasing, Mother, Should I give this a go?

I think so yes, first of all, for our new male lead horror actor, Kyle Gallner, emphasis on male. A lot of new scream queens lately, which of course is a good thing, seeing people embracing this genre and becoming a symbol of it. But we do lack on the male part, we still rely heavily on Tony Todd, Lance Henrikssen, Robert Englund and so on.

But honestly if you remove Mr. Kyle from the equation, I have to say, Mother, May I is overall a little bland. I won't call it generic, it just doesn't offer as much as it promises, yet it does manage to hit some soft spots, just without a real echo to them.

So for a die hard horror fan, yes, for a one time view, this movie should be on your list, with the clarification that it is a psychological war here, with a little bit of mystery, but no horror, or tension or scares.

If this is what you're looking for, you might actually be pleasantly surprised, I hope. A movie in the type of Goodnight Mommy, The Lodge, or It Comes At Night.

Definitely no The Ritual sadly.

So all in all, another piece of the horror puzzle has been found, take it or leave it.

Cheers!

Besides the fact that it doesn't fit the genre of horror at all, creepy at most. Although the actors do an amazing job but the storyline is full of loose ends, nothing really gets explained and majority of the film is very slow paced and confusing and ultimately has a very unsatisfying weird and preverse ending. Not worth watching at all even if you like psychological "horror". It felt almost like a knock-off low budget version of hereditary, with similar perversion and over all creepy vibes. Even after understanding the film and plot and whatnot it still does not make up for the lack of effort in story telling.

Mother, May I? Posits a couple who seem to psychologically tormented each other in efforts to "heal" from their dysfunctional parents and upbringing. This is played out as the male inherits his mother's house. Issues of abandonment, and abuse are explored as the "healing" is attempted.

The film takes an odd twist when the female starts acting like the late mother. This element begins a questioning of is this a supernatural possession instead of a twisted psychological game? Unfortunately, this plot point becomes lost as the interpersonal dynamics between the two main characters continues on their dysfunctional paths. Never mind what the conclusion is as it doesn't matter.

Acting is good even if the main characters are obnoxious and annoying. Production is good for a decent looking film. The overall point though is a trifling yawn.

This is another one of those movies that has nothing seriously wrong with it beyond being a 100-minute movie with about 20 minutes of script, tops. Kyle Gellner is a very good actor who singlehandedly achieves some moments of real interest; Chris Mulkey is always a welcome presence, although wasted in a nondescript role. I wasn't familiar with the female lead, and she's decent enough. But the film makes her "possessed" by the male lead's dead mother (or is she really....???) too fast, too soon, and as written/played that character is a trite Mommy Dearest stereotype of haughty, controlling divahood.

There's no real plot, just a premise, and not enough psychological or directorial complexity to make the central ambiguity (is this a supernatural situation, or is the girlfriend just role-playing as part of her "therapy"?) at all interesting once we've grasped it. This is also one of those movies where you wait and wait, hoping that something will finally "happen"...and then it just ends. Pffft. Your time has been wasted, and that of the cast, though this very thin material is handled competently enough.

But should it have been handled at all? Not without extensive rewrites first. This director needs a screenwriting collaborator next time out. He's not a talented enough stylist to make something substantial out of almost nothing.