Michelle Swope Elements of Madness May 31, 2025

Lucky McKee’s May, 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.

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Kat Hughes THN Jul 24, 2023 4/5

A slow-burn psychological thriller with plenty of WTF moments, May is a perfect spin on the coming-of-age stage. McKee blends in aspects of becoming a monster, creating a warped, but somehow relatable character.

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Keri O'Shea Warped Perspective Jul 4, 2022

Where fantasy and reality begin and end here is unclear; it also feels like the wrong emphasis. After everything, perhaps May deserves her moment of gratification.

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Kristy Strouse Wonderfully Weird and Horrifying Nov 12, 2021

May is fascinatingly weird, and her tale is brought to life with a wonderful score and an overall creepy vision that builds tension while grossing us out in equal measure. A little black humor, and a killer female lead, what's not to like?

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Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Dec 30, 2020 4.5/5

Angela Bettis deserves every bit of praise for her performance as May Canady. It's a devastatingly raw performance.

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Allen Almachar The MacGuffin Aug 14, 2020

A quiet and unsettling character study.

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David Nusair Reel Film Reviews May 2, 2017 1.5/4

It's ultimately difficult to envision May working as anything but a short film...

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Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed Oct 21, 2012

A marvelous cinematic debut from director Lucky McKee...

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Nick Rogers Midwest Film Journal Sep 19, 2010 3.5/4

"May" takes a cracked view of 1 Corinthians' idea of leaving childish things behind - blending the brooding of "Frankenstein" with the bleak, acrid tone of Alkaline Trio lyrics and the most frightening sing-song horror-film score since "Suspiria."

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Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Sep 27, 2007 A+

Proves that fresh new work can be done in the horror genre if the director follows his or her own shadowy muse.

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Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Jan 9, 2006 B

Benefits from bursts of gory black humor as well as Bettis' riveting performance.

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Mark R. Leeper rec.arts.movies.reviews Mar 30, 2005 8/10

MAY is a very nasty and disturbing little horror film that the viewer will probably either love or hate. It is very unpleasant see and at the same time mesmerizing.

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Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena Oct 30, 2004 4/5

O terror originado pela loucura da protagonista foge do apelativo e investe no dramático, levando o espectador não apenas a temer May, mas a sentir compaixão pela garota.

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Derek Smith Apollo Guide Jun 5, 2004 70/100

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Paul Sherman Boston Herald Feb 2, 2004 2.5/4

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David N. Butterworth La Movie Boeuf Jan 27, 2004 2.5/4

Lucky Mckee's film works better as a misfit character study than it does a purebred slasher flick.

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David Sterritt Christian Science Monitor Jan 15, 2004 3/4

McKee's directing and screenwriting are unusually low-key for a psychological horror thriller, and Bettis is excellent as the disturbed antiheroine.

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Robert Roten Laramie Movie Scope Jan 13, 2004 B

Standard, low-budget slasher film, elevated by a breakthrough performance by Angela Bettis.

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Frank Wilkins ReelTalk Movie Reviews Jan 8, 2004

A flawed little prize that somehow manages to mesmerize with its sound, intrigue with its visuals, and numb with its ending.

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Jovanka Vuckovic Rue Morgue Magazine Sep 4, 2003 5/5

'May is nothing short of brilliant. It is likely the most original horror story I have seen in years.'

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