MY CALL: This movie is a thoughtful, engaging, one-hour character study of a sick young woman seeking love and friendship, followed by a 30-minute splatterfest of how it all goes wrong. Worth a watch, but only a soft recommendation. MORE MOVIES LIKE May: Well, for obvious reasons one might try Patchwork (2015). For more horrific medical stitchwork, one may also venture The Human Centipede (2009), Body Parts (1991), Frankenhooker (1990) and The Thing with Two Heads (1972).
A young woman hungry for human connection, May (Angela Bettis; The Woods, The Woman) is overcome with insecurity. Her social awkwardness painfully limits her. But as a viewer, I find her awkwardness sweet, endearing and pleasantly idiosyncratic. Watching her deliberately “saunter” across a café, naively swaggering her hips in hopes of gaining the attention of her crush, kindly reminds me of my own more awkward phases.
But the more we watch May try to connect with others, the more we realize that something’s just not right with her. She fixates on body parts, obsessed with her crush’s (Jeremy Sisto; Hideaway, Six Feet Under) perfect hands and her co-worker’s (Anna Faris; Scary Movie 1-4, Lovers’ Lane) beautiful neck. She also violates boundaries to feel intimacy, like touching strangers as they sleep. Still, she seems so sweet and innocent that any little connection she attempts strums our heartstrings. She’s the kind of character we hope finds happiness. At first, at least.
We come to learn that that May has an affinity for the macabre… and that affinity infects her romantic interests. When Adam (Sisto) doesn’t share her fetish, May is rejected and scorned. After all her efforts to put herself out there and connect with people, all forms of relationships seem to be going poorly.
Writer and director Lucky McKee (The Woods, All Cheerleaders Die, The Woman) spins a sweet yet twisted story of a young, lovelorn woman. This film feels less like a conventional feature length movie and more like a stretched-out Masters of Horror installment… but, without enough horror spread throughout. It takes forever for anything significant(ly bloody) to happen, with all “horror” limited to the final act. So, the first hour plays out more like a bloodless drama-thriller, and then the end is a bloody, murderous, mentally ill mess culminating in a Frankensteinian stitchwork horror.
Is the third act worth the wait? I guess so. Depends on the viewer, I think. I enjoyed the movie upon this second watch less than I did 20 years ago, and this is probably my last viewing of it as well. But no regrets. It’s an interesting little thing. For me, it leaves more gruesomeness to be desired. But the exploration of May’s character remains a satisfying experience on its own.