Reviews

Last night I watched May and felt compelled to share my thoughts on this experience. Angela Bettis stars as the title character in a startling turn that is both disturbing and heart-rending. Her May is a sad creature that has spent her life searching for love and connection with no idea how to find it. Jeremy Sisto plays the 'perfect boy', Adam, with his usual blend of intelligence and brooding, and Ana Faris (of the Scary Movie franchise) is eye-catching as the lipstick lesbian with no idea of the danger she is getting herself into, it is a great performance. The story is told simply and without too many surprises in how things pan out, but it is compelling viewing in the way that a car crash will turn your head even though you don't want to see the carnage inside. May is headed inexorably towards an ending that seemingly cannot be halted, and it is this kind of fated life that we are all so fascinated about, much the same way that bookstores are crammed with novels about the downward spirals of serial killers; there is something in that path that we can't help but be interested in. Her cold and lonely childhood with a distant mother and ineffectual father, her treatment as a 'freak' due to her lazy eye, her connection with the doll her mother gave her, her rejection by those she believed loved her, all effect the fragile mental state she nurses throughout her life. When she finally cracks (like the glass covering her doll's case) it is with explosive, violent results. This film is not bloodthirsty and in fact treats its subjects with a kind of understanding and tenderness that is lacking in most modern 'horror' films. There is violence and blood and these are shot to shock you but they are not dwelled on and in fact most of the film is concerned with acquainting the audience with May and her sad little world. Her tentative, shaky attempts at romance are sweet and pathetic but you can't help being slightly repulsed by her desperation and need. Something that the object of her affection also felt I'm sure, and something that is skillfully recreated inside of you. That dual disgust and pity is what drives this picture and keeps you rooting for her long after you should have stopped. Although it was a little slow in parts and maybe tried a little too hard to be 'arty' - a pet dislike of mine - this is a powerful story, intelligently told, with an ending that has stayed with me.

there is no excuse to kill an animal on film. anyone who enjoys watching a life end on film is sick. anyone who thinks that an animals pain is entertaining is sick!

this film is reprehensible and should be banned as animal cruelty is a crime and evil.

absolutely wrong!

King prostituted his most beautiful book and this is the execrable result. Powerful, wrenching moments were removed and replaced with wholly useless gumpf. Characters ages, dates of events, entire sequences including the ending were altered and/or worsened. Tim Curry over-acted wildly and embarrassingly. Completely unfaithful to the book and worse still, betrayed the very essence of the novel - the power of love and friendship. Everyone responsible for this mockery should be ashamed of themselves for how they destroyed such a moving, beautiful and yes, truly terrifying, story. So sad considering what a great film it could've been made into if only someone who actually cared had been allowed to make it. Please do not see this garbage!! i urge you, read the book instead!! If i had my way, all copies of this hateful travesty would be removed, never to be seen again....

This movie is about Australia, its expanse that not only separates towns, but people. Its about challenging your initial perceptions about cultures and the people behind them. Its about compassion and respect and dignity. Those people who claim this film has no plot have missed the real story. Life does not just happen to perfect hollywood types, and learning to connect with another person is not as simple and shallow as a meg ryan rom-com. Toni Collette is, as always, brilliant and Gotaro Tsunashima is a great discovery who i hope to see more of.

Miss this and you will miss a truly moving portrait of the human condition, all the little flaws that make us unique, all the differences that keep us intrigued. A richly nuanced film that captures the great beauty of the Australian outback and the very real people who live here. In the sea of badly written, littered with stereo-types, over-the-top Aussie 'comedies' of recent years, this film stands out head and shoulders. A magnificent piece of cinema that left me reeling.

The best movie ever made. Perfect acting, direction, script, music etc. It was seriously robbed at the Oscars in the worse Academy Award mistake of recent years.

There is no film better. That's all there is to say.

In short, this film is emotionally devastating. I cried for an hour after seeing it and have never been so wrecked by a movie - ever! Performances are all nothing short of brilliant and the music is perfect. The end just leaves me completely undone. One of my top 3 movies of all time. The scene with Rosie Perez as a grieving mother inhaling the aroma of a baby's hair as he is carried past her, kills me.

10 out of 10.