May

May is an oddly bent, gentle horror film soaked in blood and spotted with dark humor, despair, a killer soundtrack and occasional sewing. Written and directed by Lucky Mckee, it's naughty, vicious, and sweet- even romantic- and you want to follow it wherever it goes.

Alternating between fragility and detachment, Angela Bettis sinks fish hooks in your heart with her lazy-eyed, skittish handling of the disturbed May Dove Kennedy.

When May continually experiences rejection and isolation as a child and then again as an adult, we mourn the loss of her warm, quick smile. We cringe as May's only friend turns out to be the chalk-faced doll given to her during childhood by her emotionally vacant mother.

Jeremy Sisto and Anna Faris play Adam and Polly- two people intrigued by May at first, but who soon grow suspicious as her feelings escalate- her clumsy attempts at companionship causing unease. Sisto and Faris are compelling here as well, bringing impressive depth and humor to their roles. Angela Bettis is sublime, though- her twitchy performance of May makes the film leap from horror to character study.

Bettis shifts seamlessly from sweet to unhinged as her character's anguish ignites from the repeated failures to connect with Adam and Polly. Her world burns and collapses. When the unimaginable occurs, the blood comes and beats in your throat like a hummingbird. The ending is chilling and sick.