Mama (2013)

After a young couple take in their two nieces, they suspect that a supernatural spirit named Mama has latched onto their family.

Director:

Andy Muschietti

Writers:

Andy Muschietti (story), Barbara Muschietti (story)

Stars:

Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier

11 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Chastain	...	Annabel
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Lucas / Jeffrey
Megan Charpentier	...	Victoria
Isabelle Nélisse	...	Lilly (as Isabelle Nelisse)
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 (as Chris Marren)
Julia Chantrey	...	Nina
Ray Kahnert	...	Judge
Diane Gordon	...	Louise
Matthew Edison	...	Young Cop

Storyline

Jeffrey Desange, senior partner of an investment brokerage, has a breakdown after a financial collapse and kills several co-workers and his estranged wife and kidnaps his two young daughters, Victoria and Lily. When they're found five years later, they're taken in by their uncle (their father's twin brother) and his girlfriend. Macabre events soon make the new guardians suspect that a supernatural evil force named Mama has attached itself to the girls.

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Plot Keywords:

mother daughter relationship | supernatural horror | haunted house | cabin in the woods | ghost | 

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Taglines:

A mother's love is forever.

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was not the only time Javier Botet played a demon in one of Andy Muschietti's films. He also played the Leper, a form of the titular demon in the film, It (2017).

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Goofs

When Burnsie first finds the cabin and the girls, as he walks up to the cabin his shadow is visible against the door. The sun can be seen behind him, so any shadows should be cast towards the camera. The reason for the shadow is the board reflector used to provide fill light for the scene, but it can not accounted for by the depicted environment.

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Quotes

Louise: A ghost is an emotion bent out of shape, condemned to repeat itself, time and time again until it rights the wrong that was done.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.75 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Somebody That I Used To Know
Written by Gotye (as Wally de Backer}
Performed by Gotye featuring Kimbra
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment España, S.L.
Courtesy of XL Recordings Ltd
By arrangement with Beggars Group Media Limited

User Reviews

The Mothmom Possibly.

Mama is directed by Andres Muschietti and written by Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Neil Cross. It stars Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash, Javier Botet and Jane Moffat. Music is by Fernando Velazquez and cinematography by Antonio Riestra.

A Suicidal father abducts his two young daughters and takes them to a cabin out in the woods, his intention is to kill them. Before he can enact his plan he is killed by a strange entity, leaving the two girls alone in the cabin. Years later the girls are discovered in the cabin, completely feral and when any sense can finally be made out of them, they talk of being looked after by someone they call Mama; And it seems Mama has come back with them to civilisation…

Based on his own 2008 Argentinian short of the same name, Andres Muschietti expands the idea out to a full length feature film. With pretty decent results as well. Pic is a supernatural fairytale, thick on ethereal atmosphere and not over reliant on boo jumps or an adherence to blood and guts spilling just to put bums on seats. From the moment the girls are found, scampering around the wood cabin on all fours, clearly having survived on cherries for five years, there's an uneasy feel to the story. We already know there is a spirit involved as we half glimpsed "Mama" during the pre-credits sequence, what we need now is a good story and a healthy quota of frights and peril for Waldau and Chastain as they become surrogate parents to the troubled youngsters; And again, Mama mostly delivers all that is required of it for a good night in by the fire whilst perched on the edge of your seat.

Chastain is excellent as the punk rock chick reluctantly mothering two children before her time, the two girls, Charpentier and Nelisse, are also top draw, exuding the sadness and confusion that children of that age would obviously be feeling under these circumstances. While their reactions to what we ourselves can't see, via glances or hushed exchanges, has a creepiness to it that delivers a bucket load of dread. Muschietti's direction is very stylish, not only does he marshal his principal cast members with great skill, he shows some ingenuity in scene staging with one sequence particularly brilliant as Chastain does housework and the younger of the girls plays with Mama in the bedroom, we know it, even though we can only see the wee bairn. The soundtrack and score is suitably screechy, and the cinematography by Riestra has Gothic tints to it.

Why Mama is not a bona fide entry in the upper echelons of horror is mainly due to an annoying mistake that so many horror genre film makers make, namely showing too much of the spook. There is a point around the hour mark where "Mama" herself just stops being scary, a shame because the effects work isn't half bad. There's other, less itchy problems, such as Waldau being reduced to a bit player from the mid-point, a sub-plot involving Kash's Dr. Dreyfuss just feels like set-up material, while the ending is sure to be a bit too WTF for some. That said, this is good genre cinema for those who like The Woman in Black type of thrills and story telling. 7.5/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada Spain Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mama

Filming Locations:

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,402,310, 20 January 2013

Gross USA:

$71,628,180

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$146,428,180

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, De Milo, Toma 78

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1