Fresh from her Oscar nomination and Golden Globe Best Actress win for Zero Dark Thirty, Jessica Chastain is turning out to be both the new Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett in Mama with a role that is a complete opposite of her award winning turn in the Kathryn Bigelow real-life action thriller.
She plays Annabel, the rocker chick girlfriend of Lucas played by Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau whose 2 nieces Victoria and Lilly were discovered in a cabin in the woods five years after a financial turmoil that led their father Jeffrey also played by Coster-Waldau to shoot and kill their mother and run off to the woods to also kill them as well. They miraculously survived in such rugged and harsh conditions and as the kids went to live with their Uncle after the court granted custody, the paranormal guardian "Mama" came along as well and that's where the fun part begins.
Executive produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), his signature touches are abundant in the movie and therefore it is one beautifully shot horror movie, very rare for the genre. Be wary though, Mama is still a horror movie so if you have kids, most especially daughters, the film will give you nightmares.
The performance of Chastain elevates the movie more. Her Annabel character sees a transformation in the film, from a satisfied girlfriend after finding out that she's negative on a home pregnancy test to a mother figure for her boyfriend's two nieces. After Cate Blanchett, she's the only actress I know of from my generation who can easily sink into a role and she does it well. If she is the main reason that you wanna watch Mama then you won't be disappointed.
