Cast: Megan Charpentier, Jessica Chastain, Isabelle
Nélisse, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Direction: Andrés Muschietti
Genre: Horror

STORY:
A father abandons his two little daughters in the woods. Their uncle finds them and gets them home after five long years, only to realise that the girls may not have been alone all this while…

MOVIE REVIEW:
The film opens with a bizarre sequence of events. Victoria ( Megan Charpentier) and younger sister Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) are frisked into a speeding car by their own father, leading to the woods. To her horror, Victoria finds herself and her sister, alone, abandoned in a dark forest.

Five years later, the two are rescued by their uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster- Waldau). He and his rocker girlfriend Annabel ( Jessica Chastain) get the isolated girls home, but can things get back to normal? The film works brilliantly as a psychological thriller, which constantly plays with your mind. Andres Muschietti does not resort to cheap gore or cliched ghost appearances to give you the creeps.

He leaves you shellshocked instead as he plays around with shadows, mysterious evil noises and baffling supernatural occurrences.

Mama is atmospheric and the haunting mood of the film impressively never goes down. The film does resemble Paranormal Activity a bit minus the ‘found footage’ cinematography, but this one’s way scarier and less static.

When it comes to the plot, the back-story is not explained clearly as your questions are left unanswered, but that does not affect the spook quotient. The girls are brilliant. They contribute highly to the film’s eeriness. Cinematography is equally appealing. Icy roads, snowy forests, dark woods, deserted houses… Mama is a treat for intense horror movie buffs.