Mama Director: Andres MuschiettiCast: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle NélisseVerdict: ***1/2

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How does one make a horror film a visual treat? How is it that in the midst of nail-biting fear, a scene bursts before you that takes your breath away? Guess one has to ask director Andres Muschietti. Mama, a Spanish-Canadian venture, is an adaptation of a 2008-short film by Muschietti himself. A story that delves deep into the pained soul of a mother who never quite got over the death of her infant.

A disturbed young man, affected terribly by the financial crisis of 2008, shoots his wife and two business partners and escapes into the forest with his two daughters — three-year-old Victoria and toddler Lilly. But a hideout is not what he seeks as the man, Jeffrey, wants to kill his children and commit suicide. However, his plans fail as a strange creature comes out of the shadows and kills him, sparing the girls.

Five years pass by and Jeffrey’s brother (probably twin), Lucas, who never gave up looking for the two girls, sends out a search party who finds the girls. But circumstances are quite different as the two girls are more like animals than human beings.

Bringing them back to civilisation would be a hard task, Lucas is warned by the child psychoanalyst who is working on rehabilitating the two girls. But Lucas and his girlfriend Annabel take on this challenge and move to a shelter where they would be safe and could continue with their treatment.

And while Victoria responds to the treatment, Lilly, having had nearly zero human contact since she was a baby, is unresponsive for the longest time. The children are often found talking to an invisible entity, playing with it and even being looked after by it. The children call her ‘mama’.

And without having to shed too much blood or causing much damage, Mama scares the pants off a viewer—scene after scene. The suspense is almost enticing because halfway through the film, you want to be afraid. You like the addiction.

That credit probably goes to Guillermo del Toro —traces of his directorial venture, the fantasy film El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth), are evident in the form of character development and cinematography. The film carries dark tints through out—there is no burst of sunshine anywhere and yet, it’s not depressing. It’s just how horror films are meant to be — scary, the old fashioned way.

While Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Lucas doesn’t have much to do in the film, missing from most of it due to a ‘mama’ incident, it’s Jessica Chastain as Annabel who plays the role of a confused girlfriend who has to give up her rock band to take care of two children who she has zero connection with. But she does it, and gradually grows to love them too. And it is her performance that works like a magnificent fulcrum for the whole plot.

The stars of the movie, without much doubt, are Megan Charpentier as Victoria and Isabelle Nélisse as Lilly. It’s hard to believe that they are only acting. From eating bugs to jumping out of boxes to staring at nothing—the two girls convince you completely.

So does the director. He’s kept the scenes crisp and unlike other horror movies, one has to pay attention to the dialogues and progress of the plot, to actually understand what’s going on.

The 2012 version of The Woman In Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe, created a similar impact on the audience. The storyline was complex, gore was replaced by spine-chilling scenes that made it hard for many of us to sleep peacefully at night for a while. Mama is not as dark, not as menacing, but more like a fairy tale from the dark side of the world.