• Written and directed by Lucky McKee
• Starring
  • Angela Bettis
  • Jeremy Sisto
  • Anna Faris
  • James Duval
  • Nichole Hiltz

Too many horror films fail to horrify simply because they lack depth. Too stingy to give us real multi-layered content, they instead attempt to take a plot that would be perfectly adequate for a half-hour Twilight Zone episode (in many cases, they take a plot that has already appeared as a Twilight Zone episode) and stretch it thin by adding cannon-fodder characters, drawn-out chase scenes, “suspenseful” filler scenes, and unnecessary comic relief.

Available now at Spooky-Ass Toys’R'Us.

It’s a joy, then, to see a movie like May, in which a central concept which could easily have turned into a retread of a Twilight Zone or an EC comic book is instead fleshed out with that most rare creature in low-budget horror films: character. In fact, I wish I had seen it without the trivializing description on the back of the DVD — but since I wasn’t spared the spoilers, I’m going to ruin it for you in like fashion.

Young May (Chandler Riley Hecht) has a lazy eye, and her mother, in her infinite wisdom, has her wear an eyepatch constantly to her new school, completely preventing her from making friends. The only substitute is a doll her mom gives her, one which is “special” and thus must remain untouchable in its glass case.

Thus, the adult May (Angela Bettis) is completely asocial, her only friend being the sour-faced doll. She sews in her spare time, when not doing gruesome duties at a veterinary clinic. She admires beauty from afar, but never approaches it.

Chilly?

That all changes when she sees auto mechanic Adam (Jeremy Sisto), who completely captivates her with his apparent perfection — especially his hands. In a rare effort of initiative, she finally gets contacts to correct her lazy eye, sews some new clothes, and fails horribly to attract his attention by casual contact. The only way he ends up noticing her is when she starts stroking his hand to her face after he falls asleep in a coffee shop.

They still end up forming a friendship, with awkward lunches and dinners. May feels freed when Adam tells her, “I like weird,” not realizing that he really meant only those socially-acceptable affectations of weird; in their first (and her first) moment of intimacy, she has no idea of the social norms, and bites him on the lip hard enough to draw blood. This is, indeed, too weird for him.

I swear, if I have to stoop to another “cut myself shaving” gag…

Confusing her romantic instincts further is Polly (Anna Faris), her veterinary coworker who decides to make May her next lesbian seduction/conquest. Nervous beyond belief, May submits passively to Polly’s attentions, and focuses on the one part of Polly that she finds absolutely beautiful: Her neck.

Confused by her feelings and her betrayal by both romantic figures in her life, hampered by social ineptitude, more at home with her sewing and the doll that keeps talking in her head, May bemoans the fact that there are so many perfect parts, but no perfect wholes… And then she realizes the solution to her loneliness in her mother’s old aphorism: “If you can’t find a friend, make one instead.”

Which parts of Toy Story did May like best?

As noted above, this could easily have become an overextended Twilight Zone episode, or even worse, an excuse for an unambitious slasher schlocker like Silent Night, Deadly Night. But all involved in making this movie seem to have been aware of the greater potential of the material, and bent their wills toward realizing it. To wit:

An impressively understated visual style demonstrates May’s isolation and her off-kilter perceptions of the world. Echoing her lazy eye, there are metaphors for and references to sight all around, though none so strong that they become obvious. And there are scenes which are simply compelling in and of themselves, the strongest one being at the day care for blind children where May volunteers; she brings her doll for show-and-tell, the children grab it and break it, and then crawl through the broken glass, searching for the doll with bloodied hands.

Well, yeah, but aside from THAT she looks great.

Fully as responsible for the film’s success is Angela Bettis’ entirely believable performance as May. Never once, in these scenes which require such a construction of persona, does Bettis exhibit herself to be “acting”. Her ability is such that she almost pulls off the one false note in the story — the unlikely transformation of May into a completely self-assured and confident individual once she has her “make a friend” breakthrough. Even then, she pulls off the second phase of her character admirably; I chalk the awkward transition up to a directorial misstep.

Add to that standout performances by the supporting actors (Anna Faris’ Polly is the weakest, coming dangerously close to the parody of a lesbian femme fatale), and a truly inspired soundtrack, and you have a movie which accomplishes an almost impossible task: It creates and sustains sympathy for a multiple murderer.

Some Notable Totables:

• body count: 5, plus 1 cat
• breasts: 0
• explosions: 0
• ominous thunderstorms: 0
• actors who’ve appeared on Star Trek: 0