May

No, not the month. It's a movie title, and specifically the name of the main character. But on to the point...

This movie is a disturbing little affair I found on Netflix, and wouldn't have taken a chance on pre-Netflix. It focuses on one of my favorite subjects, which is the weirdness behind the person next door. I probably find it so fascinating precisely because it's exactly the sort of thing most people don't like to think about.

May is an attractive, but shy and odd sort of girl (and she has reason to be). In the course of the movie you follow her through a series of attempts to relate to other people, which of course don't work out very well, or it wouldn't be much of a movie. The point is that you really come to feel for her, even as she becomes stranger and stranger. There are no supernatural elements here, and I think they would actually have taken away from the impact. It's a lot more frightening to think that people can do this without some kind of powerful interference than if you had the Irresistible Boogie Man clearly running the show from behind the scenes.

One of the Netflix user reviews described "May" as being more of a character study than a horror film, and I'd say that's exactly correct. There are horrific elements, but they're not the point, really. This one is well worth a rental some time when you're in the mood for something off the beaten path. It's low budget, so don't go in expecting much, but it's quite well done and worth a look. I won't even try to give a numeric rating because your viewpoint on it will depend a lot on what you're looking for in the first place.