MARA: Scary Enough To Keep Us Awake

Freddie Krueger is back. The villain of the much scarier Nightmare on Elm Street series by Wes Craven, the original fall-asleep-and-die horror movies, is referenced in this new movie by an expert who explains sleep paralysis is a real phenomenon. He of the striped shirt and extended fingernails would appreciate being called out in Mara. He might even respect this modest homage, one of those releases that is good but not great, deserving an audience on cable, streaming, or as an option on an airplane.

Mara is a mystery thriller. Forensic psychologist Kate Fuller (Olga Kurylenko) is called upon to investigate an apparent homicide. A wife has been blamed for the death of her husband in the opening scene – the most effective of the moments of violence. Their child woke up, went to the parents’ bedroom, approached the door with trepidation, and opened it a moment too late to witness exactly what had just happened.

The girl is understandably traumatized. A rookie, Dr. Fuller, is summoned to coax testimony out of her. Dr. Fuller has empathy, having taken up her profession because her mother was schizophrenic. She blames hallucinations for this crime, and herself for her mother’s demise.

Her diagnosis is based on the deceased having had a sleep disorder. Dr. Fuller follows that clue, learning about a community of sufferers of sleep disorders, who feel stigmatized. They do not want to be called “nuts”, while they huddle together like addicts in group therapy. They are paranoid wrecks.

The Sleep of Death?

The issue is whether they are experiencing psychosis because of sleep deprivation. Or, as one of their number insists, it may be that a demon has emerged to kill them off as has happened in previous episodes around the world predating Jesus Christ. The fiend is drawn to tragic wrongdoing so the human culprits can expiate their sins whether they wish to or not.

The earnest Dr. Fuller interviews the fellow who claims to have discovered the truth. Named “Dougie,” he is assumed to be a druggie. He warns everyone that they are all doomed. As is inevitable in the genre, Dr. Fuller herself is placed into peril. Meanwhile, the child comes to be stalked by the same ailment or avenger.

Kurylenko as Dr. Fuller must carry the suspense. She does fine, her role here involving more grime than glamour. Probably fewer reaction shots would have sufficed to establish the tone. Since her start as a “Bond girl”  in Quantum of Solace, she has established her acting skill in features such as Oblivion.

One might quibble about details such as the second victim not being a “registered US citizen,” which no citizen is, and there being no requirement yet to sign up with the local police. They don’t want to say “foreigner” for some reason. He is Japanese, which might have a vague meaning in the plot, since Dr. Fuller’s deceased mother bequeathed her a Japanese beckoning cat figurine (misidentified as a Chinese icon). The reveal of his transgression is set out in too cursory a manner to warrant the narrative significance it is assigned.

Or the Science of Delusion?

Skepticism about the supernatural, and the corresponding faith in science, never saves anybody in these scenarios. Dr. Fuller is willing to consider supernatural explanations, because otherwise she would be compelled to disbelieve her eyes. She is told by amateur researcher Dougie that “Mara” is merely the name this evil is given in modern America. But, believers assure doubters, she has called herself by other titles throughout history around the world.

The Mara monster is not a CGI effect. Actor Javier Botet is afflicted with Marfan syndrome, an ailment that gives him disproportionately long limbs. Thin and double jointed, he has made a career of creepiness. He is the title character in Slender Man, for example, and was a xenomorph in Alien: Covenant.

As versatile a performer as he is, his appearance here, in female form, confirms the aesthetic dictum that “less is more.” The plot is more dramatic with less clarity of his physicality. What we perceive in our mind’s eye is worse than what we see on screen. No amount of FX would be likely to change that in this instance. The reason is what the movie posits. Our own unconscious has power over us; the heart of the drama is sleep. Sleep has been a mystery since consciousness birthed curiosity.

The study of sleep has unlocked only a few of its secrets. Among the conclusions that are clear, even if the reason remains obscure, is that the prolonged lack of REM sleep leads to very unhappy outcomes. Dreams especially have been subject to interpretation, by mystics, novelists, and scientists, among whom there might be less differentiation than supposed. We all known the uncanniness of imagination.

Philosopher Rene Descartes of “I Think, Therefore I Am” fame was trying to solve the problem of the evil deceiver: whether we can truly know that our reality isn’t simply an illusion created by the devil. Mary Shelley was inspired to write of Frankenstein the doctor and his monster namesake by an episode of sleep paralysis. Hmong refugees in fact passed away in their slumber en masse as mentioned in this fiction. Many viewers will recall their own moment of terror suspended between asleep and awake, mind disassociated from body.

All of that renders sleep paralysis is a perfect subject for a horror movie. The producers were smart to green light this project, and the movie looks plausible. Shooting occurred in Savannah, Georgia; the quaint Southern town has positioned itself for the entertainment business with streets that could be set designs and sizable tax incentives.

Mara: Conclusion

A movie such as Mara should be praised. It was made with the minimal budget of under $3 million by first-time director Clive Tonge, a professor in Cumbria, United Kingdom, but neither the cost constraints nor debut status is obvious. The competence of this production suggests the promise of the creative team. This particular outing will satisfy an audience that enjoys jitters, with just enough scares that as you leave the theatre you might dread your next bout of sleep paralysis.

What is it exactly that makes horror movies work? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Mara was released in the United States on September 7, 2018. For all international release dates, see here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2wRPdld44M