(No Spoilers)
I thought the perfect way to start this blog off would be to highlight one of my favourite movies of all time, which is about a weird girl and her doll (you may start to notice a theme). I bring you the underrated masterpiece May, a horror/thriller with a beautiful, tender performance by Angela Bettis, directed by Lucky McKee, released in 2002.
Throughout this blog, I will be talking about and recommending a selection of “weird girl movies” because it may be my favourite film genre. The criteria I have created for such films consist of a few things:
- Indie/ offbeat or cult film genre (cannot be block buster when it came out)
- Starring at least one girl who isn’t just weird because she has glasses (though they normally do wear glasses), there must be at least one more thing about them that is truly odd.
- Themes of loneliness
- The lead cast cannot include big stars (who were famous at the time of the release)
This is one of those movies that shocked me when I found out it was made by a man. This is such an intimate and empathetic look into the life of a strange and lonely girl named May. And it is done so well.
The story follows a strange and lonely young woman named May, who does, in fact, wear glasses because she has a lazy eye (which she was bullied for as a child, leaving her friendless). She’s socially awkward, and her only true friend is her doll, which was gifted to her as a child. She confides in her doll about everything. The movie really begins when she develops a crush on a guy she sees during her lunch break at work. Without giving too much away, things… get weird, and creepy.
Lucky McKee paints a beautiful portrait of a lonely girl who just wants to be seen. It is handled with empathy, and surprisingly (for a man) doesn’t sexualize her to make the audience fall for her! This is really important to me when watching films about women. I’m so sick of sexualization and nudity being used as an “intimate” lens to understand and empathize with a character, which often reduces the character even more (in my opinion). You fall for May in all her quirks and faults with the understanding of what she desperately wants — to be truly seen and loved. Though the film is a horror movie, you don’t leave the film scared or fearing her, but truly understanding her and empathizing with her, and rooting for her.
Now I’m a visual learner, so I have attached some no-context stills below to persuade you to watch the film, in case I didn’t quite do it justice.
Anatomy of a Doll 