Mother, May I?

Emmett (Kyle Gallner) inherits the family home from his estranged late mother. He and his girlfriend Anya (Holland Roden) head off to the remote extensive home to prepare for a quick sale. They have an usual relationship which gets stranger when she seems to take on the personality of his mother.

The writer/director is Laurence Vannicelli. I don't know anything about him or his work. I do like the tone and the simmering tension of this movie. Most of all, I love these two actors. I want this to be great. At last, it simmers, but it never cooks. There is a way to get there, but the story takes a less compelling turn. The ending is somewhat poetic, but has no intensity. This is marginal.

If you're looking to fashion a double feature, you could definitely pair this film with Run Rabbit Run.

Though, this film is neither as creepy, or well done as that film is.

One thing is for sure...they definitely share some thematic similarities.

With the wife taking on the characteristics of her husband's dead mother here; where the daughter takes on characteristics of her dead sister there.

And both focusing on the psychological toll it takes on the main characters- when they are forced to face a cognitive dissonance breakdown, when their understanding of the world falls apart.

The difference here being that we are looking at the effect it has on both parties, here.

With the mystery at the center of this film being much more confounding.

As two broken people use a shared traumatic experience to heal their underlying mental wounds.

While not a bad film, it doesn't quite live up to the mastery of Run Rabbit Run.

Which you can't help but compare it to (if you've recently watched both, like I have).

To be fair though, this one does have an air of darkly comedic undertones to it.

Despite it's sincerity.

Whereas Run Rabbit Run is a more pure psychological thriller.

Both films are great though!

So make a double feature out of it.

5.5 out of 10.

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, 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!

I wouldn't classify this as a horror. This movie is more of a psych drama. Although it's a very decent film, it could of easily been way more intense and interesting had a few more elements added.

I found the setting too "nice" A missed opportunity to convey a n added depth to the story.

Some real good acting takes place, the camera work, lighting (which I could of used a lot more play with light and shadow, but it was, at least, present) sound and editing were competently done.

It had a few eerie moments,it had a few warm and fuzzy moments, it had some uncomfortable moments, but none of it was what I would call surprising or edge of your seat.

The story was above average but the last ten minutes, a few things didn't add up, for me.

Better than a lot, but achingly soooo close to what could of been excellent.

Would still recommend.