Cult cinema was always a difficult thing to pin down. For you see, there are films that millions saw, that could be considered cult. There are films that only a handful of cineastes saw, that could be considered not. MOVIEDROME tried and failed to quantify it (this will be the last time in print I will mention that show or its corrupted legacy.) MAY is a film that could be considered cult. I am sure I saw it in the early 00s and I am equally sure it was on the lips of a few knowing film people. However it is equally true that it was only in the mouths of the few and wouldn’t have reached further than the film circles that fluttered around the video shops I did. Flash forward 20 odd years and here we are. 

May is an awkward soul. Her ‘lazy’ eye has held her back and isolated her. This troupe will upset the Z generation but its a good reflection of the outsider curse. Her only friend is a doll that her mother made. Eyes like blue diamonds and face like a slapped arse. May works at a veterinary as a nursing assistant. There she has an odd relationship with a fellow co worker and an obsession with perfection. He house is equally spotless but this sublimation hides a sexual desire. She develops a crush on a local mechanic boy with the most perfect hands. He is hot and cold with her but she is obsessed and well, we know this isn’t going to end well.

So there are names here that you will know. Rian Johnson edited. Anna Faris stars. There are also senses that you have seen riffs of this elsewhere recently, with ANNABELLE an obvious example. For me it brought up PIN, a delicious horror from the mid 90s. These themes come up in the commentary from Heller-Nicholas (who talks a lot more). There are copious extras. Interviews with all and sundry. Talking, talking and more talking. They don’t mention Lynch mind. They should really. They really, really should. Director Lucky McKee seems almost in awe of the man and his work from watching his own creation. For you see the camp overtones are a direct homage to the great work Lynch did. They reflect the monster in Americana. The darkness in a repressed sexuality. There are a wealth of extras here that slice and dice MAY apart. None seem to grasp its bloody heart as well as Alexandra Heller-Nicholas commentary, aside from Lynch that is. It might be that we want to get more at the menace at the root of the America then and now but instead we get to simply look at the picket fence…

Special Features 

• A new audio commentary with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Audio commentary with Director Lucky McKee, Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, Editor Chris Sivertson and Actors Angela Bettis, Nichole Hiltz, and Bret Roberts
• Audio commentary with Director Lucky McKee, Editor Rian Johnson, Composer Jammes Luckett (formerly credited as Jaye Barnes Luckett), Production Designer Leslie Keel, and Craft Services guy Benji
• The Toymaker: a new interview with Director Lucky McKee
• Perfect Hands: a new interview with Actor Jeremy Sisto
• Blankety Blank: a new interview with Actor James Duval
• How to Execute a Murder: a new interview with Cinematographer Steve Yedlin
• Peeling Back the Layers: a new interview with Editor Rian Johnson
• Jack and Jill: a new interview with Editor Chris Sivertson
• In the Cut: a new interview with Editor Kevin Ford
• Blood, Gore and Rock ‘n’ Roll: a new interview with Composer Jammes Luckett
• From Frankenstein to May: Miranda Corcoran on May
• Bits and Pieces: on the set of May

Limited Edition Contents

• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Bella Grace
• 70 page  book with new essays by ​​Joseph Dwyer, Dr Rachel Knightley, Mary Beth McAndrews and Heather Wixson
• 6 collectors’ art cards