 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2002 release May. This one is done by Lucky McKee and that means written and directed by Lucky McKee. Now this is the first time I'm seeing this film. It's one of those films that's just been on my list for a long time. If you would be able to see my list of films I need to watch, it's insanely long. So there are a lot on there that have been there for a while and this is one of them. But I'm very glad I finally got around to it. Like I said written and directed by Lucky McKee, he's also done such films as The Woods, Red, The Woman, All Cheerleaders Die, Blood Money, Kindred Spirits, and most recently Death Sember. Which I haven't heard anything about Death Sember since it, I think it came out. It's the most recent one. Now I have to say this upfront at the top before I really get into the film, Angela Bettis did a wonderful job in this as the character of May. Her performance is great. You believe her performance. You believe that's who she is in this film is exactly who was scripted and it comes off very well. She also ended up showing up in Lucky McKee's film The Woman as well playing a character in that. So very cool that they were then able to work together again. There was initially a long introduction within this film of May as a child which ended up in the end being cut for what's there now because they felt like it kind of took the film a bit too long to actually get going. So things really got cut down. So what you see in the very beginning as the establishing information about who May is really mainly just to show how lonely she is and her relationship with dolls as opposed to human beings in the beginning. That was a lot longer at one point apparently. But I think whatever what they ended up shaving it down to. I mean obviously I didn't see what was there before but what they shaved it down to certainly plays well for me. I think it gives you the necessary information to understand who May is as a person starting everything out. It gives you all that backstory you need without giving you a lengthy amount of backstory to sit through. So I think they did a good job with that. The original scene of her meeting blank that's actually in the name of the character Duvall's character the guy who was also from Donnie Darko who had the Frankenstein tattoo on his arm and the wild hair. Originally May's introduction to him in the film when that happened she wasn't very like kind of cold and withdrawn. What she was is she was like angry and yelling at people as they walk by her in the streets. So I do think that's kind of a big difference change wise for the film because the way she was it made her seem more approachable how it was in the film versus how it was originally written where it would be probably a little bit less believable that blank would end up being interested in actually you know talking to her all that much or you know trying to go to her place. So May's level of being ostracized is very effectively shown in that beginning sequence you know not just because of the her whole eye situation which you know something like that when when it's a child and they have a big difference from all the other children like you immediately assume that there's an ostracization if that's a word. I do I know I do when I watch it in film because you know growing up as a kid that's what you experience whether it's you personally or you seeing it with other kids you know if there's something different like significantly different like the situation with May's eye when she's a kid that gets picked on kids are very mean and they do a good job of setting that up with this one. You can see after her eye appointment that May's mood actually gets very upbeat and hopeful it kind of sets the tone for where she is in a mental state to start with the film you get the backstory on how you know her how traumatic things have been for her and then you get an introduction into the story where she's actually at a high point especially like I was talking about after that eye appointment where it kind of like sets her eye straight so she's starting to feel a little bit more normal she's feeling more self-confidence more self-esteem and she just emits this upbeat attitude obviously from there it's this kind of very gradual deterioration that takes her all the way down to where we end up with where we end up being in the very end of the film. When the guy came into the vet talking about his dog missing a leg I actually thought May was going to end up having something to do with that missing leg now I don't know if that's actually what was going on there wasn't anything specifically that was in there but it was just another one of those hints I feel like at the parts aspect of the film because if you look at it there's a it focuses on parts a lot I mean the film begins with the falling baby doll pieces body pieces which is obviously a very strong indicator of where the film is going in the end but also it's a showing of the mindset of May herself because she thinks in terms of parts one of the things being she does because of you know the introduction of who she was as a child and how basically her friends were dolls in essence and she was making her friends literally making her friends as a child by making these dolls but also when you're seeing her interact with people within the film notice that when it's kind of from her point of view and she's interacting with people it's looking at specific pieces of the people it's not looking at the person as a whole it's like looking at their hand or their elbow or their or their entire head is actually one of them as well but just notice that it's focused on pieces just like she focuses on pieces of the dolls who were her friends so in real life all she knows is the pieces to look at of the human beings but that's also a foreshadowing of where things are going in the end of her taking those pieces that she's observing in these people and admiring of these people and throwing them all together to make a friend make friends yeah so anyway I'll talk more about that in a little bit when May starts rubbing her face on Adam's hand that's a clear sign to the audience that things are off for how withdrawn May is as a person that's an unbelievably odd move and bold move to be making out in public especially with someone you don't actually know yes she's been watching Adam for quite some time but he doesn't know her at that point so for her to just go up and start rubbing her face on his hand while he's kind of sleeping or trying to sleep is a very bold thing and that indicates you've already seen that she's pretty withdrawn she's very apprehensive about kind of approaching people and talking with people and she's awkward so you get that feeling something's not right here for her to take that bold step and start wiping her face on his hand because it's kind of like she isn't there mentally when that happens and then she kind of like snaps to when he catches her doing it the amount of time spent with May and how her personality unfolds really does endear you to her I found myself really rooting for her and wanting things to kind of go well for her in this film even when the weird things are happening even when you get the idea that things are going down the wrong road even when you know she's capable of killing people there's still something about the way her character is built and the things that happen to her and the things that you know you see of her personality that makes you still like her and make you still root for her and I think a lot of that actually has to do with the the roots in the loneliness of her childhood I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that there are a lot of people who have experienced kind of lonely childhoods like this or people who have seen people or know people who have experienced lonely childhoods like this so it is easy to see yourself in May a little bit or someone you know or are very intimate within your life so just saying the story may tells of the old man's dog having its guts but guts burst all over the place is a huge warning at this point it's an awkward scene and Adam seems to be freaked out while may is finding joy in telling this story that is just another one of those little breadcrumbs that's laid out throughout the course of the film of something's wrong but it's also part of the destabilization of of may as a person she's got it pretty well together she's keeping things together she wears this facade when she's interacting with other people but there are these cracks that show up in that facade and that story telling that story is one of those the facade has come down at that point she starts feel a little more comfortable around Adam so she starts being herself more and herself is what doesn't fit into normal society herself is what can't interact normally with other people and will scare those people away and you see that a little bit of a repulsion by Adam in that moment and that's just one of those moments that does that in the film specifically with Adam the overbearing nature of may moves up a level when she tells Adam she's never had a boyfriend then makes him feed her a chip that was dipped in salsa then takes his arm for him and puts it around her that is just another one of those moments I was talking about that kind of moves it up another notch moves it up another notch and is another warning sign that something is off here so honestly the fact that Adam keeps coming back as much as he does might not be all that believable within the context of the story with how many things are going on but that is tempered a little bit in the story was showing with when they show his his film project and kind of the decoration of the apartment he's living in because it shows you that he's a little weird like and maybe he's just attracted to that so that does temper it a little bit but prior to that you're kind of like I don't know if it's believable that this guy keeps wanting to see this girl because there's some very clear signs that she's off very unnerving when Adam uses the fake knife on May and she doesn't react negatively to it in fact it actually excites her and that's when she starts kind of like playfully making the stabbing motion with his hand on her and then doing it back to him as if it's almost a sexual thing in a sense and it actually does seem to be kind of a foreplay thing with her that leads to you know the kissing and then things go wrong because he's like where'd you learn to kiss what's going on so yeah I just found that interesting just another one of those indicators the jack and Jill video that Adam shows which is his project May thinks it's funny and and fun and I love when May says it's far-fetched that Jill got Jack's whole finger bit off in one mouthful that was funny I mean and there is a dark comedy that that carries throughout this whole film it's interesting because it's upbeat and fun and interesting and endearing and a very charming film but at the same time it's funny and at the same time it's disturbing and it's just like it's so many things rolled into one that the writing had to be exactly right to get all those feelings to go together and that's why I think it's it's a strong film when May kills the cat with the ashtray which I do not like by the way just because you know I'm a cat lover I have one it's indicating to the audience that she's capable of murder so most likely if a person is not next at some point a person will happen you know when little things like this happen in film that is supposed to be that indicator to the audience this person has just committed murder on some level they are capable of murdering a human being and obviously that's where it ends up going with multiple human beings the part with the kids crawling on the glass and taking the doll apart is pretty disturbing yeah especially with the music that they had of the little kids voice doing like the la la la that type thing that by the way whenever that shows up in the film that music is disturbing it's just disturbing it's one of those universally disturbing things that when there's music with kids voices like that it's always going to hit you that way pretty much I do think that particular scene doesn't feel super right just because it's off in the sense that the kids would not just crawl on the ground knowing that there's broken glass there and even when they start doing that they wouldn't continue so it doesn't feel realistic in that sense but to some degree it does feel like it's all in May's mind which to a degree maybe it is just in her mind at that point although you know the doll is all you know broken apart and she is covered in blood so I initially thought well this has got to be fake because the kids wouldn't react like this but I don't think it is within the events of the film so that doesn't feel super realistic but it's an effective scene nonetheless and like I said quite disturbing so I like it blanks line about it being so hot that he needs ice for his nipples made me laugh and I was watching this by myself so that is a big achievement this goes back to the dark humor thing actually that's not a dark piece of humor excuse me that's not a dark piece of humor it's just humor amongst the film filled with dark humor but that was hilarious she's like oh you got any ice for my nipples so funny it kind of fell out of place for a minute but it was just funny enough that you know I didn't really care May's comment on blanks uh Frankenstein's monster tattoo is a hint for where May is headed like I was saying just another one of those hints that shows you much like the doll parts in the beginning her obsession with sewing and patchwork and putting that together which her clothing is patchwork together as well it's all about taking pieces and putting it together the frankstein's monster tattoo the fact that when she looks at people she just looks at some singular parts of them all that stuff rolling together to indicate to you she will be making her own frankenstein's monster note that once May has decided to collect body parts her personality changes and she makes herself look like the doll that came with it was behind the glass she is now the doll and she's no longer awkward she decides she makes a confident decision at that point and she's back to kind of what she was in the beginning feeling very confident things feeling self-esteem at that point she knows what she has to do she no longer is interested in fitting herself into society she is interested in fitting a friend into her life which for her what makes sense is taking the pieces of people that she likes or pieces that she likes of people and putting them together into one person that she can like the entirety of instead of just a piece of that person because the entire time she's just liking pieces of people in the end she puts them all together to create the whole person that she actually likes granted they're not actually alive but yeah even when may tries to stop fitting into others people's lives and tries to fit them into hers she still is not seen and that's what happens in the very end you know even when she does take the steps to create her own person by taking all those body parts and sewing them together and then even eventually going to the length where she takes her own eyeball out and puts it on that person she put together it still doesn't satisfy what she's looking for because it's not alive because she wants to be recognized and seen by someone and a lot of people I mean a lot of people have been there like how often in your life have you felt like you want someone to recognize something you did or who you are as a person or how hard you worked doing this or doing that in life and no one's saying anything no one's looking at it no one's acknowledging you and this is getting to that in a much exaggerated way obviously but it speaks to something very human and something that a lot of people have experienced to varying degrees so I that's another part of why this film hits the way it does and why it's so important to watch I do think the end is drawn out a bit too long and the hand touching her at the end I think was very unnecessary I don't think you need that because obviously it's not alive I assume that was kind of a in her head type thing but it just wasn't necessary it wasn't needed I actually think the film plays a lot better if you don't move the hand at all in the end I think it's a much more powerful image if she just dies next to that Frankenstein's monster that she she has created after she takes her eyeball out just have her bleed out and die with it I think that's a better ending the film feels very much of the era of something like cruel intentions or clueless not just the feel of you know a person in the world trying to adapt and and being young but also kind of the look of it it looks from that era as well stylistically may is constantly commenting on parts of people like parts of a doll which is seen in scenes in the introductory sequence just another connection there also knows that a lot of shots done from a perspective are focused on just parts of people that's what she seems to be interacting with primarily the doll behind glass seems to be a representation of may trying to keep her darker self confined but as the cracks in the glass start to appear and become larger so do the cracks in her social facade and the cracks in her mental health and holding it together so notice that the the going between of her and the doll in the glass is really a showing of her mental state and her holding things together within society and as that cracks you see the cracks in her life and then once it shatters it all falls apart so I like that that metaphor in there overall the film has this palpable charm to it even when things are often disturbing some of that is probably from the real messed up dark comedy moments and another is due to the consistently upbeat soundtrack yes I was very interested to see to well sorry to see to hear that there was a really pretty consistently upbeat soundtrack especially for such dark material and as someone is devolving and just falling apart you would think it would have gotten darker you think it would have been more serious but it's not but I like that about it it really does work and I feel like it keeps you more engaged and it keeps you more it keeps you from getting too depressed about the film and viewing it in a more fun manner and taking it a little bit with a grain of salt from a young age people are people are told to make friends this is that piece of encouragement taken to a very ridiculous level obviously but it works it's done in a great way and I love that that was the premise for this film make go make friends how often were you told as a kid make friends go go outside make friends well may does that when she figures she can't get friends to be people to be her friends she's like I will make friends or make one friend this speaks greatly to being an outcast and desperately wanting to have others in your life a lot of people I know have probably experienced that at some point not just necessarily with wanting someone to be in your life but one individual person at some point in your life we're like oh it'd be really cool to you know be with that person boyfriend or girlfriend wise or be that person's friend but they don't have interests the the feelings are not reciprocated so this kind of takes that and and goes further with it real good directing in this and a pretty tight script that has really great pacing may slow falling apart is very gradual and it feels real for what the story is because it takes its time I love the pacing in this that is one of the biggest strengths with it and like I said really good directing and very tight script that's something that doesn't happen a whole lot there's so many films I watch and I'm like there's so much extra crap in this that needed to be cut out of the script and that is not the case here they at least if they had extra in the script they at least edited it down after the fact and made it a very tight story that works really well and has great great great great pacing so overall this is a very nice film it's not the best film I've seen I can't give it like a five star or anything like that in the end I was between four and four and a half it feels more appropriate at a four unfortunately but no if I was doing quarters it would be four point two five so four star rating for may really good makes me want to watch more lucky McKee stuff because other than this the only other lucky McKee I've seen was his entry in masters of horror with the well I don't want to ruin it you should go check it out actually just watch all the masters of horror it's awesome his is called sick girl and look into that it's it's a good time so would love to hear what other people have to say about this film may I know there are a lot of strong opinions I haven't heard anything and it said negatively about this film when I've talked to people about it so I'm assuming I'll get a lot of positive comments so go ahead and put those down there do me a quick favor though hit that subscribe button if you're not a subscriber I would really appreciate you just taking that one second it takes to hit that because it really doesn't mean a lot to me and it really keeps me motivated to keep doing these videos because I'm just doing them for people to consume and create a kind of nerdy horror community here where we can talk about horror stuff because where I live I don't have people like that in my life I can't I can't talk at a very nerdy depth horror with anyone where I live so I'm looking for you people so hit that subscribe also hit the notification bell button because then you'll know when I'm putting up new videos like this in-depth review or an unboxing or any of that type of stuff so yeah but regardless I really appreciate you taking your time to watch this video and until next time keep it brutal