“I am an unfortunate and deserted creature; I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me and know little of me. I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever.” – The monster in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
In Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel, Frankenstein, scientist Victor Frankenstein creates a monster by sewing together various body parts he obtained from corpses and then brings the creature to life using electricity. All the monster wants is a companion, someone to love him. Instead, he is shunned because of his appearance and forced to live in desolation, ultimately seeking revenge. Similarly, Lucky McKee’s directorial debut May (2002), a deeply personal, darkly comic meditation on loneliness, features themes of isolation and rejection, as well as a monster created from body parts, but the protagonist is female and can be seen as both the creator and the monster.
Angela Bettis as May in MAY. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate Limited. © 2002 A Loopy Production, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Written and directed by Lucky McKee and edited by Rian Johnson (Brick; Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi), May tells the story of an introverted, friendless young woman named May Canady, in a fanciful, multilayered performance from Angela Bettis (Girl, Interrupted; Toolbox Murders). May had a difficult childhood due to her lazy eye and her mother’s insistence that she hide it from the other kids at school, causing some of them to make fun of her. The only friend May has ever had is Susie, a striking doll encased in glass that her mother gave her with instructions never to open it and the recommendation, “If you can’t find a friend, make one.” May sees herself as a monster because of her lazy eye and lack of companionship, so after being spurned several times, she decides to use her love of sewing and her mother’s advice to create a friend who will accept and love her unconditionally.
May becomes infatuated with a young man named Adam, played by Jeremy Sisto (Hideaway; Wrong Turn), especially admiring his hands. They finally introduce themselves during an awkward encounter in a laundromat and he asks her out. Adam is a filmmaker and his house is full of unusual and macabre art, which May finds fascinating. When he shows her a film he made about a couple who eat each other, expecting her to be horrified, he is shocked when she tells him she thinks it’s sweet. Adam likes May because she is odd, but he is freaked out when she suddenly bites him while they’re kissing.
Angela Bettis as May in MAY. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate Limited. © 2002 A Loopy Production, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
May has been telling Susie about Adam and his beautiful hands, but when she becomes angry after overhearing him tell his friends he doesn’t want to see her anymore because she’s too weird, Susie’s glass case slowly begins to crack. Part of what makes Bettis’s performance so captivating is her ability to convey multiple emotions with just her eyes. May has a childlike view of the world and the pain she feels at being scorned by Adam is palpable and excruciating to watch.
The sadness and desperation in May are punctuated by dark humor, due in large part to Anna Faris’s (Scary Movie) portrayal of Polly, May’s bemused colleague at the veterinary hospital where she works. Polly is attracted to May, who has already noticed what a nice neck she has, but when May realizes Polly is seeing another girl, she once again feels rejected. Susie’s glass case fractures some more, signaling that May is becoming completely unhinged. Each time May thinks she’s made a new friend, like outrageously spiky-haired punk rocker Blank, who happens to have a Frankenstein tattoo, played zanily by James Duval (Donnie Darko), it ends in abandonment.
L-R: Actor Angela Bettis and writer/director Lucky McKee on the set of MAY. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate Limited. © 2002 A Loopy Production, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Steve Yedlin’s (Knives Out; Star Wars: The Last Jedi) cinematography and Jammes Luckett’s (The Woods) alternative rock score enhance May’s sublimely tragic, socially awkward, sometimes even playful, atmosphere. From May’s lazy eye to various body parts featured in the film, the makeup and practical effects add an aesthetic of bloody, grungy realism to May.
On Halloween night, May makes herself a new dress, similar to Susie’s, takes a cooler, and goes out to collect the parts she needs to make a new friend, following her mother’s advice. Her descent into madness is complete. At its core, May isn’t just about loneliness, it’s a beautifully written, heartbreaking story about compassion and acceptance.
May Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Film Critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Lucky McKee, Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, Editor Chris Sivertson, and Actors Angela Bettis, Nichole Hiltz, and Bret Roberts
- Audio Commentary with Lucky McKee, Editor Rian Johnson, Composer Jammes Luckett, Production Designer Leslie Keel, and Craft Services guy Benji
- “The Toymaker” — An Interview with Lucky McKee
- “Perfect Hands” — An Interview with Actor Jeremy Sisto
- “Blankety Blank” — An Interview with Actor James Duval
- “How to Execute a Murder” — An Interview with Steve Yedlin
- “Peeling Back the Layers” — An Interview with Rian Johnson
- “Jack and Jill” — An Interview with Chris Sivertson
- “In the Cut” — An Interview with Editor Kevin Ford
- “Blood, Gore, and Rock ‘n’ Roll” — An Interview with Jammes Luckett
- On the Set of May: “Bits and Pieces”
- From Frankenstein to May: “Dr. Miranda Corcoran on May”
Available on Blu-ray May 13th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Lionsgate Limited May webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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