May

Angela Bettis Works Wonders in "May"
I suspect the movie "May" snuck in under most people's radar. In fact, I am not sure many people know about this wonderful little picture even now. I only came across it through pure chance, read a short review about it, and decided to give it a shot. I am certainly glad I watched "May" because this film about a meek young woman with a desperate need to belong really delivers on multiple levels. This movie underscores the fact that there are plenty of films floating around out there that deserve more attention than they receive from general audiences. I cannot say whether "May" got a theatrical release or not, but the film is available on DVD and is well worth picking up if you are a horror film aficionado or if you just enjoy great acting performances.

Angela Bettis plays May, a young woman with several serious mental issues. Her problems started as a child, when doctors diagnosed May with an eye problem that required an eye patch. Of course, the kids at school thought May was a...

A quirky masterpiece that creates its own genre
May is a peculiar sort of movie, part social commentary, part slasher flick. It manages to succeed admirably at both, despite the fact that it's central star is a cute little misfit named May.

May Dove Canady (Angela Bettis) is a sheltered misfit. Born with a lazy eye, she grows up wearing a pirate-like eye patch, only to be teased by children her entire life. Her mother (Merle Kennedy) drives the point home: if you can't find a friend, make one. And May's mother does just that, crafting a doll for her daughter with big, spooky eyes. The catch is that the doll can never be let out of her box.

And thus we have an allegory for May. May tentatively explores her world through her job as a veterinarian's assistant and her interactions with her coworkers, the barely-understandable veterinarian (Ken Davitian) and the oversexed lesbian coworker Polly (Anna Faris). Then May bumps into Adam Stubbs (Jeremy Sisto), a horror movie fan and budding auteur that specializes...

Just friends....
Angelina Bettis stars in this predictable, but creepy and well-made gothic thriller about a very shy and disturbed young woman with a lazy eye. When she's little, she has to wear an eye patch, and no-one wants to be her friend, so her mom gives her a rather disturbing-looking dolly in a glass case and tells her that if you can't find a friend, the next best thing is to make one! Hmmm, I wonder what's going to happen when she takes up sewing and a job at the veterinary clinic. As if that's not enough to telegraph the ending, the first shot in the film is one from the final scene. I guess they figured the audience might get bored if they didn't open with something flashy, I don't know. Non-linear opening shots are kind of cool, when we flash back and towards the end find out the story around the shot, but it would have been more effective left out.

Jeremy Sisto (who fans of Six Feet Under will know can be creepy himself) plays an artist who worships Dario Argento (really!) only to...

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