May: Scary, tragic buried treasure with a bonus creepy doll

May is a little-known gem of a movie that many horror fans have never even heard of. I’d like to change that, so if you are not familiar with this buried treasure, allow me to introduce you.

May is a shy, socially awkward young woman played by Angela Bettis (who also played the title character in the TV version of Stephen King’s Carrie). She works at a vet’s office with Polly (delightfully played by Anna Faris), and has a serious case of lazy eye, which resulted in a bad childhood. May’s only real friend is a super-creepy doll named Suzie, which is kept in a glass case.

After her eye is fixed, May begins to become friendly with Polly, and with a cute mechanic named Adam (played by Six Feet Under’s Jeremy Sisto). May starts dating Adam, while at the same time, co-worker Polly starts to flirt with her. She is drawn to both of them: Adam, because of his hands, and Polly because of her beautiful neck.

Now that May has ventured out into the world a little bit, she has interactions with people, and even when those people are unkind, she finds something about each one that is attractive. She wants badly to connect with people, but her innate weirdness puts them off.

Adam’s student film features two characters who begin to cannibalize one another, and when he shows the film to May, the two begin to make out. But, May bites Adam’s lip hard enough to draw blood while they are kissing, and he makes a hasty exit, eventually ghosting her.

May – Courtesy 2 Loop Films

Polly starts to date another woman after she and May have a brief affair, and May feels rejected. Even her own cat starts avoiding contact with her, and May starts to hear Suzie the doll talking to her. We can see that the already fragile May is now starting to crack around the edges.

Without giving too much away, let’s just say that May decides if she can’t find a true friend, she will just make her own, built out of the best parts of people she knows. And, this should make her a villain, right?

But, where this movie really succeeds is in making the viewer really empathize with sad, sweet May. She has tried so hard to build a life for herself, to make friends, and to be loved, but time and time again, things go wrong.

Angela Bettis gives a fantastic, heart-wrenching performance as May, she won several Best Actress awards on the film festival circuit. And despite the serious subject matter of the film, Anna Faris is bright and funny as the self-centered Polly.

Lest you think this is just a sappy, melodramatic film, let me assure you that there is plenty of horror here, May has its fair share of blood and disturbing scenes. When May volunteers at a school for blind children, she brings Suzie in, and during the visit, the doll’s glass case breaks. The broken shards cut both May and the blind children.

May – Courtesy 2 Loop Films

Add that to the throat slitting and head stabbing scenes, and you have a pretty solid horror flick. It just happens to be a somewhat emotional horror flick at the same time.

I highly recommend this production if you are looking for a horror movie that doesn’t fit the cookie cutter mold. You can rent it on Amazon Prime Video or better yet, buy a copy!

Readers, have you seen May? If not, do you think you will watch it after reading this story? Tell me what you think in the comments section.