User reviews

I cant say much about this movie other than its wonderfully strange. It has an appeal that is not only beautiful but scary and intelligent and never asks the viewer to understand whats going on fully it just guides you through the story with a slightly sick feeling in your stomach because deep down in some small way you know that you relate to the central character even if its just for a passing moment.

This is not a run of the mill slasher type horror movie and explores the characters more than most in the genre especially the first relationship between may and the man with "perfect hands" i wouldn't rent the movie if your looking for a no brainer but if you want a horror with a little more substance and just the right amount of dark humour this is the one for you.

"May" is not a movie I would nominate for an Oscar, or any sort of award, but it is original. Many scenes totally creeped me out, but what can I say? It's a horror flick! And I commend the director for being unapologetic about this sick, demented material. The film is well-made and well-acted. Just don't expect the feel-good movie of the year. I can watch Jason Voorhies slice a victim's head off with a machete while eating a 3-course meal, but watching a room full of blind children crawl all over a floor and cut themselves with broken glass is pretty damn disgusting to me. Fans of the horror genre definitely won't be disappointed. (7 out of 10)

You want infatuation, the twisted kind brought upon by someone longing for something true, but only to be strung along and heartbroken. Lucky McKee's "MAY" is an indie film that draws you in; slowly forming its basis around vivid characters, ongoing interactions, developing pathos, and relationships to only turn it upside down. From quirky one minute, to startling the next, but always underlining its twitchy psychological makeup is a certain calamity that no one can escape. What it really does thrive on though, is the edgy dynamics of Angela Bettis' affectingly misunderstood, yet adorably offbeat lead performance brought upon by her character's awkward naivety, stemming from her constant loneliness that can be traced back to when she was a child. Her best friend is a doll in a glass case that was given to her by her mother as a child, and it seems to somehow communicate, getting into her unstable head. Bettis' portrayal is great, not to take anything away from a mild-mannered Jeremy Sisto and seductive Anna Faris who were equally so, in their characters' careless selfishness of their treatment of May. However it's definitely all about Bettis and her character's slow, crippling descent in finding that someone, who's 100% perfect. How she gets there, can be darkly humorous, but also insanely morbid, as McKee gets it spot on blending these two elements together.

I have seen "May" about five times or so by now, and it is still as good as the first time I saw it. I found it by sheer random luck in the local secondhand DVD store. I bought it without knowing anything about it or the people starring in it.

What makes "May" unique is the absurdly entertaining story, but also the entire cast. Especially Angela Bettis who performed the role of May to perfection. She was so well-cast for this role. Anna Farris also really performed quite well, and it was nice to see her out of the usual comedy genre that she is in.

The story, shortly summarized, is about a socially inadequate loner named May, who falls in love with a guy she sees on the street, and she tries desperately to get his attention and affection by all means necessary.

"May" is both a story and character driven movie, and it is the type of story that creeps in under your skin and will stick with you. It has a good combination of drama, character acting, thrills and blood. Yes, there is blood!

I can strongly recommend that you sit down to watch "May" if you haven't already seen it. It is one of those movies that is a surprise of a movie.

I bemoan horribly low-budget movies, but this production is proof positive that money does not make the movie. I am still so disturbed by this effort that I am finding it hard to find the words...

This movie was absolute brilliance. It was creatively written, realistically portrayed, inspirationally directed, and disturbingly sad and dark at the same time.

Angela Bettis is astounding as May. May was born with a lazy eye which caused her have to wear an eye patch. Her mother, a neurotically judgmental woman, raised May to believe that her only choice for friendship was to either hide her differences, or withdraw into her own fantasy.

But there are more differences within May than even her mother could see, and after May realizes that people are not perfect, she goes to any and all lengths to make herself seen.

This is one of the darkest, saddest, most disturbing movies I have EVER seen. Bittersweet and truly mad.

It rates a full 10/10 on the "B" scale.

That's an 8.9/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Whoa! I'm speechless! May is one weird, fun, funny, sad, and disturbing film. It's just so many things. It's a strangely beautiful character study about a lonely girl who just wants a friend. I couldn't help but feel for her. She's weird and shy, but in a cute, sweet way. I was intrigued by her, and wanted her to find happiness. No matter how pathetic her character would become, I just couldn't stop caring. I wanted to reach out to her, and be her friend. Nobody deserves to be so lonely. All she needed was a friend. But things just don't exactly work out that way. Once she began to crack and take the plunge into madness, it was understandable how it could happen. That doesn't mean that the events that unfolded weren't shocking, because they definitely were. But we see why our heroine does what she does. We can't help but want things to be different though, and for her to go down a different path, but when she doesn't, we come along for the ride anyway, following her wherever she takes us.

Angela Bettis gives an amazing performance as May. So far this is the best female performance of the year, and when the end of the year comes, if it's still not THE best, it will be one of THE best. She makes us care about her character from the beginning, and we never really stop, even when she goes psychotic. Bettis shows so many emotions, and makes us feel all kinds of things. She was very natural, and sometimes her body language spoke to us more than her words. We just knew what she was feeling, and could feel her cracking more and more as the movie went on. She was sweet, sad, scary, pathetic, and yet strangely attractive. It's too bad the Academy are such prudes, because this girl is so deserving of an Oscar nomination that it's not even funny. Unfortunately, it's obvious her performance will be overlooked by them. May just isn't "Oscar material." Plus, the movie didn't make enough money and isn't well known enough for them to even consider honoring anything to do with "May." But even if they don't honor it, the fans will always remember it. I've seen Bettis in other movies, but after seeing this, I will always remember her as May... I've always been a fan of the underrated Anna Faris. She's a great comedic actress. I found her to be a lot of fun as Polly. She's funny and sexy. This is sure to be one of my favorite supporting performances of the year. Faris was a welcome addition to this twisted little film.

Writer/Director Lucky McKee proves to be a great new talent. It's hard to believe this is his first feature film. Very impressive if you ask me. I'm looking forward to whatever he does next. If it's anything as wonderful as "May," then it should be great... Also deserving of a mention is composer Jaye Barnes-Luckett. She does a terrific job here, always providing the right music at the right moment. If she keeps this up, she'll have a bright future ahead of her.

I'm still blown away by this film. There's so many praises I have for it, that I doubt I could remember to mention them all. It's original, well acted, well written, well directed, etc... It's just twistedly wonderful. It's too bad it wasn't given a better release in theaters, but it's not exactly a mainstream movie either. It still deserved better than what it got. At least I can find comfort in knowing that it's sure to become a cult classic. Word of mouth will help it a lot. It's definitely not for everyone though. It's weird, morbid, quirky, wicked, and gutsy. It doesn't shy away from much. In fact, it has one of the best and most realistic slit throats I've ever witnessed on screen. But don't let that scare you, it's definitely worth a look for any horror fan, or any film fan in general. I'm proud to have this haunting film as a part of my collection. It's simply A-MAY-ZING!

Grade: 9/10 (A-)

I saw this movie for free - and I want my 2 hours back. It started out all right, but then quickly descended into pretentious, self-important, silliness. Am I supposed to be impressed by the gore? Granted, this type of gore doesn't usually make it to the big screen, but it has been done before - and much better. There was nothing original about this movie at all. The story was lackluster, the dialogue cliché & annoying - and what oh what was up with that goofy doll??

The only decent thing about this movie was Angela Bettis's performance. She was pretty good. Pity, she will now be known from this stinker. Oh, and it did make me laugh a few times - though not necessarily when I was supposed to. Don't waste your time or money going to the theatre for this one.

Some movies use gore to distinguish themselves from other horror movies in a unique way, and boy, do they ever succeed. DEAD-ALIVE, EVIL DEAD, RE-ANIMATOR. Others, rather than settle for OTT gore, try to creep you out with old-school tactics that wriggle under your skin into places that are anything but comfortable...places that you only visit in your dreams. THE OTHERS, THE SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS are those kinds of films.

And then you get those rarities...those exceptional films that are not for everyone, that manage to be both creepy and gory at the same time, in a way that's not quite easily classifiable, and so they are never considered "mainstream" by mass audiences in the multiplexes, or critics into selling sound-bites rather than writing decent reviews.

Films like TOURIST TRAP, THE FUNHOUSE, George Romero's MARTIN, ALICE, SWEET ALICE, SISTERS and SILENT SCREAM are some prime examples. To this list, we can now add MAY.

The less you know about this film going in, the more shocking the denoument is. And even those who have heard quite a bit about it, shouldn't be too quick to make assumptions. MAY goes in a direction that most films of this genre hint at, but never commit to. The result is a tale alternating between twisted tenderness and tremendous terror, like nothing you've seen in a long while. And in the true tradition of creepy/gory/blackly comic films, there's no middle of the road with this one. You will love it or absolutely hate it, but either way, you will not walk away from it unaffected. First-time writer/director McKee has seen to that, and then some.

Angela Bettis may need some serious therapy, following up her role in the CARRIE TV remake with this one. I'd be tempted to call it a pattern, since May does share a lot of similarities with Carrie White; the overprotective, overbearing mothers, the role of societal outcast set at an early age. But that's where the similarities end. Where Carrie's weapon of choice was her soon-to-be-not-so-latent telekinetic powers, May's power lies in her very deceptive talent to appear shy, docile, reclusive and weird, but supposedly "harmless." Obviously lacking in the social interaction department, she still has a quality about her that elicits our empathy and sympathy. The characters she meets in the story feel the same way and...well, you have to see what happens to belive it.

Indie faves Jeremy Sisto (SIX FEET UNDER), Anna Faris (the SCARY MOVIE series) and James Duval (A RIVER MADE TO DROWN IN) round out the principal cast. Not to mention May's first 'friend' that serves as a catalyst for the story...a doll given her by her mother, which may have you swearing off dolls for the rest of your life!

I'm not going to give away the main plot, leaving that to other reviewers and their assessments. I will say this: if your horror movies usually have to be series sequels with a number plastered in front of them, MAY might be too much imaginative derangement for you to handle. But if you're in the mood for something completely different, then rent it NOW, by all means. Just make sure you have a good, stupid comedy to take your mind off of it afterward. Trust me on this; even if it's DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? for the fifteenth time, TAKE IT. You'll feel...well, maybe a little better after watching this.

There's very few movies with decent female psychopaths. The best one I've seen is in Audition.

She has all the characteristics of a psychopath, an actress who gives an excellent performance.

The movie lets you get to know the main character very well hence its slow start.

As indeed all of the acting is good all round from the cast, that being the victims especially.

The movie is paced well which is needed to build up characters and the events to arise in their demise.

The kills are done very well, nothing over the top albeit they are carried out pretty quickly. So no gore just for the sake of gore. So all good.

I'd have rated higher except that the ending was a little dire for me. No spoilers but i wanted the opposite to happen for her.

Highly recommended for fans of female psychopaths!

I remember hearing the buzz on this movie awhile back but never rented it. We have a bad snow storm headed our way so I figured I'd rent a few movies and stay indoors. Rented this on a whim and I was really amazed! You pretty much have a good idea where the movie is going, but there are a lot of truly strange and touching moments along the way.

Angela Bettis is such a fantastic actress! Her jittery mannerisms are near perfect. And towards the end she becomes more self-assured and confident when she starts down her dark path. It almost makes me want to rent the TV version of Carrie that she started in .... well, almost.

The film has a lot of heart, it's surprisingly emotional.

The human mind is a very scary thing. How can one memory or wrong glance in your childhood can affect you a life time. This movie is complicated if you want to see it that way and very deeply sad how a human can drag him self to that level on insanity. Or simply watch it as a horror movie.

From the reviews I read before watching this movie, I was expecting a good horror flick. It was not what I was expecting. It was awful. Slow, weird (in a bad way) and not at all scary. I ended up fast forwarding the last 30 minutes just to see if I could catch a glimpse of what might be an interesting scene. Alas, no. I just fast forwarded all the way through the end credits.

I'm not sure what everyone was so excited about. I like the more subtle, psychological horrors which I thought this was supposed to be. Some of my favorites are Halloween, The Fog, The Shining, and yes, many years later, even Scream. At least that one was fun to watch.

May has absolutely nothing to offer or remember. Trust me, let this one slip by.

It's the first time in my life that I can't stop loving a character, even when such character commits herself to the most heinous acts. May is a delicate flower that might even break under the push of a gentle breeze. When she finally breaks bad I can't stop feeling for her... every time she does something horrible, it feels like she's doing it to herself and I feel sorrow for her; I wish to hug her and reassure her that everything is gonna be alright. Damn you, Angela Bettis, you have been able to make me fall for a psycho! :)

I absolutely loved this movie, all of its perfectly acted characters. The relationships seemed so natural and real. Great cast, excellent script and story and a masterful direction. What are you waiting for? Whatch this movie NOW!

Strange movie, strange plot, strange behavior; an introverted teenager with strong socializing problems is trying to find the 'perfect' friend in this revisited tale of Frankenstein.

The soundtrack is really good, the acting too, this movie is scary and sometimes funny, but the horror elements didn't work as well as comedy or dramatic elements, I think 'May' lacks of character development and the script also lacks of big holes (what happened to May's parents?? do you think you can kill people and walk around like if nothing happened just because it's Halloween?? why did Adam's new girlfriend let May enter the house?? come on... why she does the things she does is beyond my understanding, I mean... if you are socially inept it doesn't automatically turn you into Jack the Ripper, isn't she afraid of killing people??)

Anyway, not your average movie, I'll rate this 6 out of 10

Well, when I saw the preview to this movie I thought I might like it a lot. BUT...and it is a big BUT...when I tried to watch the movie, I was very disappointed. I am not sure what the makers of this film were trying to accomplish. This is one strange movie to say the least. I could hardly bear to sit through it for very long. It was boring, not really a horror movie at all, and the maker of this "film" seems to be fascinated by the doll in the picture. Yuck! I love horror movies, but this is not horror at all, unless you want to count the fact that it is a horror to try to sit through. I just cannot recommend this crap. To say it sucks is the understatement of the year!!! Like I said, it looks so good in the previews, but the actual film is very boring and just not up to par in ANY sense of the word! I would skip this loser for sure. This HAD to BE STRAIGHT TO VIDEO because it could NEVER make it if it was released to theaters!!! FORGET IT!!!