May



May is a very lonely young woman. When she was younger, the patch she had to wear over her “lazy eye” made her a pariah at school and kept all the other kids away. As a result, her only “friend” growing up was Suzie, a doll her mother gifted her on her birthday that remains in a glass display case, never to be opened.


Gah! It looks like a Puppet Master abomination! How does this keep happening to me!

Now that May is older her lazy eye has been fixed with the help of corrective lenses, but the lack of socialization in her youth has turned May into a socially awkward young woman with a rather morbid sense of normality and a fixation on body parts. But she’s also clearly yearning for meaningful human connection. Because really, all May really wants is a friend. And she thinks she’s found one in Polly, her flirtatious coworker, and Adam, a cute car mechanic with a taste for the macabre. Unlike some other people, neither one seems turned off by May’s “oddness”, to the point where they both seem interested in dating her. But when some of May’s more…peculiar interests end up pushing Adam away, Polly loses interest when someone else catches her eye, and then Suzie ends up irreparably broken, May’s already fragile psyche finally snaps and she decides to follow through with her mother’s old adage: “If you can’t find a friend…make one.”



May is an American psychological horror film from 2002, and is yet another one of those movies where I remember seeing copies sitting on the shelves at the old rental stores back in the day, but I never got around to watching until now. And it seems like I wasn’t the only one, because it looks like this film fell under a lot of people’s radar. Perhaps because the weird cover suggests it’s about some goth chick having some kind of fashion crisis…. Which is a shame, because if you’re a fan of psychological horror movies, then May should be very appealing. Though, considering how the bulk of the film is presented it’s understandable how potential fans could have completely glossed over it.



May is the kind of movie that when it starts out you’re not really sure what type of movie it’s going to be. Is it a drama? And awkward romance? A thriller? It’s really kind of all of the above, as May is the kind of movie that’s just happy to do its own thing and peter along, dropping little, creepy hints along the way about what’s about to go down until the final act starts, and then — BAM! — the horror they’ve been hinting at kicks in in a big way. And the movie does an excellent job in the buildup of this, slowly ramping up the tension surrounding May until she finally snaps and goes off the deep end. It’s not only very effective, but more importantly also very earned, to the point where you still end up feeling very sympathetic towards May, despite the horrors you see her committing on screen. The only downside to this is that the film is very much the definition of a “slow-burn”. Meaning that though the movie is only 93 minutes long, it’s going to take over an hour for May to get to her breaking point, which I know for some people is going to be a harder sell. I do think the payoff is worth it, especially if you really like psychological horror. But if you’re not the biggest fan of that genre then you’re going to have to practice a bit of patience before you get to “the good stuff”. It wouldn’t at all surprise me to learn that people got half-way through this one before turning it off. Because even I have to concede that some of the many awkward interactions May has with various individuals can be a little hard to sit through.



It helps that the acting on display here is pretty excellent. Angela Bettis is perfect as May. Her shy, awkward and jittery mannerisms are damn near flawless towards the beginning as May navigates herself through unfamiliar situations. But towards the end, when May finally realizes what she truly wants and decides on a path, one she’s much more familiar with, her confidence grows and she morphs into almost a serene, self-assuredness that to anyone passing her on the street would look totally normal, but ends up coming off bizarrely disturbing to the viewer, because we know that it means something awful is about to happen. It’s really very effective.

Oh, and Jeremy Sisto and Anna Faris are in this too and also great. It actually kinda makes me wish Faris focused on more than just comedy roles. Because even though she played the “ditzy blond” she was really very good in this.


Branch out, Anna!

So, yeah, I ended up really liking May. It may be one of the creepiest, darkest, but also saddest horror films I think I’ve seen, but I liked it. It takes a special kind of horror film to make you feel bad for everyone in the movie, but that’s the kind of movie May is. It’s a strange, and oddly bittersweet story, and if you read about the ending on paper you’d probably think it was going to be one of the cheesiest things you’d ever see a horror movie try to pull off, but shockingly it’s not. Instead, because the film is almost as much a character study as it is a horror film, it ends up feeling profoundly sad. This is probably one of the more unique horror films you’re likely to come across. So if you like psychological horror films and don’t mind the blood (because oh yes, there is plenty of that), then this movie should be a no-brainer. But if you’re looking for something with a faster pace and more action, then you might be disappointed.

May is available on a variety of streaming services.

May is also available on DVD and Bluray, though the later discs may not be US compatible.

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