Mama (2013)

Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?

Director:

Andrés Muschietti

Writers:

Neil Cross (screenplay), Andrés Muschietti (screenplay),

Stars:

Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier

8 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Chastain	...	Annabel
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Lucas / Jeffrey
Megan Charpentier	...	Victoria
Isabelle Nélisse	...	Lilly
Daniel Kash	...	Dr. Dreyfuss
Javier Botet	...	Mama
Jane Moffat	...	Jean Podolski / Mama (Voice)
Morgan McGarry	...	Young Victoria
David Fox	...	Burnsie
Dominic Cuzzocrea	...	Ron
Christopher Marren	...	Cop
Julia Chantrey	...	Nina
Ray Kahnert	...	Judge
Diane Gordon	...	Louise
Matthew Edison	...	Young Cop

Storyline

The senior partner of an investment brokerage Jeffrey has a breakdown and kills his two associates and his wife. Then he takes his three-year old daughter Victoria and the one-year old daughter Lilly and drives his car through a winding snowing road. He has a car accident and fall off a cliff, but he brings his daughters to an abandoned and isolated cabin to kill them, but the children are saved by a creepy ghostly creature. Five years later, Jeffrey's brother Lucas finds the children that were raised without social relationship and claim that they have been raised by Mama. Lucas disputes the custody with the children's grandmother but Dr. Dreyfuss, who is studying the girls, selects Lucas to take care of the children. Lucas lives with his girlfriend Annabel, who plays in a rock'n'roll band, and Victoria and Lilly moves to their house. Soon Lucas and Annabel find that the girls were not delusional and they are not alone in the house.

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Plot Keywords:

forest | children | big sister | sibling relationship | aunt | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some disturbing images and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Spain Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mamá

Filming Locations:

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$28,402,310 (USA) (18 January 2013)

Gross:

$71,588,220 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toma 78, De Milo, Complete Post Accounting

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Annabel hears the girls playing, she goes into their room to tell them how late it is and to go to sleep - but it's light outside. There are about 3 other times when it's supposedly nighttime and the light is streaming in through the windows.

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Quotes

Dr. Dreyfuss: There is no rational explanation that supports this theory. But it is only the ability to embrace the different reality, that makes science expand beyond the limits of what we know. However, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs.

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Connections

Spoofed in Mad: Papa/1600 Finn (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Missing Pieces"
® 2012 by Third String Tunes/EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
Edición autorizada para España a EMI Music Publishing Spain S.A.
All rights reserved. International Copyright secured.
Performed by Jack White
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment España, S.L.
Courtesy of XL Recordings Ltd
By arrangement with Beggars Group Media Limited

User Reviews

Amending The Horror Story

Horror has been one of the least appreciated film genres nowadays for relying nothing more than the excessive amount of violence and repetitive jump scares, plodding the storytelling by its completely lifeless characters who are ready to get killed. Mama is something else however it still has those horror movie clichés, like those easy loud jump scares and some ghostly pathos, but there is a fascinating concept behind the scares that leaves the audience a beautiful story than just a cheap horror shock. It also has a set of strong performances and solid production. It could have been much genuine in being scary than simply loud but Mama is still one of the great horror films we got in a while.

Unlike most modern horror films, this movie's ambition is to tell a compelling story. Obviously there is a hidden emotion beneath the concept, but before we get to that, it explores around the characters and the gloomy atmosphere. Rather than throwing a horrific death scene to show fear, it scatters some symbolic objects that indicate the presence of the titular monster. It's a fascinating trick of manifesting its mysteries and fear. What defy the odds of the genre are the characters. They are not only ought to get scared. This is a rare set of modern horror characters that possesses a genuine soul. The performances handle them terrifically. There is a lot of remarkable performance to talk about but anyway. It's not only about the scares. It finely balances the drama to the darkness of the story. Personally, it's kind of more interesting when it simply tells the story of the two kids and the Mama ghost even though it features a horror cliché of ghosts telling their past to the central character. In the end, we'll realize the film actually offers more to the picture.

The only largest misstep they had is the excessive amount of loud jump scares. Though, they can be effective at some point. They still used some other ways of scaring the audience, like mimicking the clever horror trick of "The Orphanage" and letting the character be alone exploring the creepiness going on. It could have lingered on those parts to feel the danger of the characters, but instead they immediately send off a loud jump scare because it works to everyone. The film uses some CGI which made the monsters look a bit awkward but they are decent enough. Everything looks great in general. The cinematography and the production are a total pay off. It's just beautiful to look at.

Mama turns out to be pretty good. At glance, it doesn't look like the kind of horror film we usually thought about but furthermore we get to realize it is beyond than we should expect. The clichés still exists but they are used in a better way. Putting aside those cheap scares, it's a refreshing story that is indeed worth telling. It's still far from classic but it is also far from generic and annoying like most horror films we get these days. The performances and the filmmaking give more to the experience. Mama is the kind of horror film that abandons the gruesome acts and rather shows its dark aspects in a quite endearing way.