MOMMY (2014) *Spoilers
I felt like this movie was yelling at me for almost the entire time. BTW, I almost wrote this entire review in
CAPS as to emulate the film's emotions. But you don't want to read a review in caps, so lucky you
I think this movie succeeded brilliantly at what it's trying to do. And oh yes, I understand why the director used that weird narrow format and the ultra closeups. The entire film was mostly near-close up to very close-ups and that was to immerse the viewer in the mom's world, she was literally trapped with a son whom she loved and yet HE WAS ALWAYS IN PEOPLES FACES.
The 1:1 screen ratio and the closeups give us a visual of ADD and boy did this kid have the ADD rages.
So this was genius film making and it worked too good on me, I must say. I was annoyed like I've never been annoyed before! God that kid drove me crazy. I truly hated him and his obnoxiously rude mother too.
I could just not take these people. Well except for the neighbor school teacher on sabbatical. I liked her, she was the only main character I could related to. She had most of the quieter scenes when she talked to the mom. I wanted to know more about her, she seemed to have something going on in her life but we never really find out what it is.
So in the end when the screen goes full screen and we see the grown boy, now a man, graduating from college and getting married...that too was cutting edge film making, because in that moment the mother dreamed what could have been, and her world opened up...and as her hope expanded, we had wide screen! Which made me breath a sigh of relief, though it was short lived.
I know it rubbed me wrong because at the sad ending at the mental institute and the boy is running around screaming and the health worker punched him in the face...I actually said out loud. Good that little jerk deserved it! Of course in the real world he wouldn't he wouldn't deserve it. But in the make believe world of cinema, I was glad of it.
So my respects to the film maker and I don't say this is a poorly made film, just the opposite it's an original, but it's not the type of film my personality can like.