Mara follows a criminal psychologist (Olga Kurylenko) who tries to solve a series of deaths that occur in the middle of the night while the victim is sleeping. All the deaths have the signs of murder, but there is no evidence or reasonable suspect. So who, or what, is killing these people?
Mara Review
A traditional, paint-by-numbers horror movie, Mara brings little new to the table in way of story, characters or scares. It’s a conventional death that turns out to be not-so conventional and gradually escalates in supernatural activity in the most predictable of ways.
The always-amazing Javier Botet makes himself known in this movie, as he does in all his roles, as the villainous entity. His ability to contort his already abnormal body structure (which he himself is confident in displaying on screen) is otherworldly, and of course that makes for terrifying creatures and characters. But, Botet can’t carry the mundane nature of the demon and its standard motif and backstory.
Kurylenko does a well-enough job in her role, but the script doesn’t allow for much growth in character with a very a bland and predictable plot. Formulaic genre films can be decent superficial pleasures, but often they just further saturate an already jaded market. And that is exactly what Mara does.
The bare bones are nothing fresh and even the tissue placed on top doesn’t offer anything of original value. I can’t really think of how else to put it at this point. It’s forgettable. So let’s move on!
Horror Rating System
Horror Qualifier: 8/10
Horror Quality: 4/10
Film Quality: 4/10