I keep having this pop up on IMDB recommendations, so rather than watch movies I saw earlier in the year. It stars the dude who plays Jamie Lannister in Game of Thrones, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. (I have to say that I wrote this way back in 2014 and Game of Thrones was a popular show but wasn’t the juggernaut that it would become.)
So here’s the story according to IMDB in a nutshell, I’m guessing there are some spoilers, so read at your own peril.
“The senior partner of an investment brokerage, Jeffrey Desange, has a breakdown due to a financial collapse and kills several co-workers and his estranged wife. He then kidnaps his two young daughters, Victoria 3 and Lilly just 1. He drives his car recklessly through a winding snow-covered road. He loses control of his car and drives off an embankment. He finds an abandoned and isolated cabin where he plans to kill his daughters, but the children are saved by a dark ghostly image. After five years of searching and depleting his savings, Jeffrey’s twin brother, Lucas, finds the children that were raised without social interaction and claim that they have been raised by ‘Mama’. Lucas disputes the custody with the children’s Great Aunt but Dr. Dreyfuss, who is working with the girls, helps Lucas get custody of the girls so that he can still have access to them. Lucas, his girlfriend Annabel, Victoria, and Lilly move into a house provided by the institute that Dr. Dreyfuss works for. Lucas…”
I watched it last night, I have thought about it. I didn’t want to overreact. I needed time to let it soak in. Here’s what I have deduced.
This movie had potential, a ton of it. It was creepy and constantly building up. Granted, the vast majority of the film was predictable as it going, the ride was fun. As I was enjoying it, I thought that this could hit the 6.5-7 range. And it was allllllmost there. And then the last 10 minutes happened. It’s been awhile for a movie’s ending to affect my overall opinion so negatively. This was like a Stephen King ending, only way, way worse. They solve the whole issue, they figure out who Mama is and why she is doing what she’s doing. We understand why she kept the girl’s alive. We resolve what has been torturing her, and then she takes my favorite character anyway? There was no twist, she just takes the character with her. And I spent all movie cheering this character on more than anybody else. I know I was meant to feel sympathetic to the others’ plights, but this one won me over. So no, this movie isn’t seeing 7, not even 6 range. It’s getting a 5.0 because that ending royally pissed me the fuck off. I recommend seeing this because it is genuinely good, BUT be prepared to hate the ending. If that is something you don’t wish to deal with, then pass on it. Which is unfortunate.
Final Rating: 5.0
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- Universal Pictures (presents)
- De Milo (production)
- Toma 78 (production)
Please go find a copy and support the creators.