In this blog post, we’ll examine how May’s isolation and obsession in the movie ‘MAY’ are visualized through dolls and gore to evoke a chilling sensation in the audience, using plot, psychological, and scene analysis.

Plot Summary of the Movie “MAY”

The protagonist, May, who had a squint in one eye since childhood, grew up being bullied by her peers. Lacking human connection, May’s only friend was her doll, “Susie.”
As an adult, May works at a veterinary clinic and enjoys sewing as a hobby. After repeatedly failing to form relationships with others, a man named Adam appears; he finds a peculiar beauty in May’s sewing skills and the strange excitement she feels at the sight of blood.
Another friend, her coworker Polly, is a lesbian who feels a strange attraction to May and begins to seduce her. May, who seemed to be forming her first real relationships, gradually becomes obsessed with Adam’s hands and Polly’s slender neck.
On the day she invites Adam over, just as they are about to kiss, May senses the jealousy of her doll, Suzy, and bites Adam’s lip, leaving a wound. Afterward, Adam is terrified and leaves, and Polly also leaves May after finding a new girlfriend.
When her pet cat dies and even her old doll, Suzy, is accidentally broken, May is overcome by intense loneliness. Her mother’s words—“If you don’t have any friends, make one”—linger in May’s mind, and she resolves to create a friend who will never leave her by selecting only the “beautiful” body parts of various people.
May gathers Adam’s hand, Polly’s neck and torso, Polly’s girlfriend’s legs, the arm of a punk she met on the street, and the hide of her own cat, sewing them onto Suzy’s shattered face. Finally, she removes Suzy’s glass eyes and replaces them with her own, and the film ends shockingly with the doll’s scream.

The Psychology and Personality of the Protagonist, May

Due to the emotional scars she suffered from her appearance since childhood, May experienced social isolation, and her emotional bonds were focused solely on the doll, Suzy. Because the doll was always there to look at her, May became strongly obsessed with it.
The film portrays May as an increasingly passive and dependent character. Her job at the veterinary clinic and her hobby of sewing serve as means to help her create her “perfect friend.” However, May is highly possessive and sometimes exhibits bizarre behavior, as seen in scenes where she talks to herself or puts a dead cat in the freezer.
Because of these actions, the audience begins to suspect that May may be struggling with mental health issues. An even more intriguing aspect is the scenes where the doll, Suzy, appears to react to May’s emotions. This lends credence to the interpretation that Suzy represents May’s fantasy self—a projection of her loneliness.
May goes to extremes to achieve her goal: to create a “friend who will never leave.” The cruelty displayed in this process is not merely murder; it is interpreted as a tragedy born of unacknowledged desires and feelings of deprivation. In this respect, May is a character who evokes the audience’s sympathy, unlike a typical brutal killer.

The Nature of Horror in the Film

Director Lucky McKee’s debut film received critical acclaim at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival despite its low budget. In its approach to horror, the film focuses on delicately evoking the characters’ emotions and isolation rather than subjecting the audience to extreme physical shock.
Dolls have long been used as a source of horror. Human-like forms evoke both familiarity and unease, and ‘MAY’ links that unease to the protagonist’s loneliness and obsession. The film’s gore effects are not merely intended to shock but serve as a device to visualize the inner destruction May is experiencing.
A short-film-within-a-film sequence—in which a couple caressing each other begins to tear each other apart piece by piece—condenses the director’s core message. It reveals the harsh reality that even a relationship based on love is imperfect and ultimately leads to mutual harm, and this realization permeates the film’s overarching theme.

The Final Scene and Visual Interpretation

The most striking visual in the film is the final scene. It depicts an almost exhausted May lying on top of “Amy,” the doll she created, followed by a sequence in which Amy appears to be stroking May’s face. This scene, in which Amy—who is, in reality, nothing more than a corpse—appears to move, could be a hallucination or a metaphor suggesting that the “perfect friend” May created has come to life on her own.
This scene allows for multiple interpretations by the audience. One interpretation is that May sacrificed even her own soul to complete her friend and, as a result, lost herself. Another is that Amy was born as May’s alter ego—an ego serving as a compensation for her wounded self. Through this, the director shows how an obsession with perfection leads to destruction.

The Definition and Historical Context of Horror Films

Horror films have evolved through a fusion of various cultural traditions rather than being reducible to a single specific origin. The genre as we know it today was shaped by a blend of diverse influences, including medieval European vampire legends, 19th-century British horror literature, and Native American shamanic elements.
The 1919 film ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ is cited as an early influential work, and since then, horror has branched out into various subgenres, including splatter, occult, zombie, slasher, gothic, and hard-core. Films are sometimes classified as slasher or hard-core based on their level of violence.
In general, horror films center on “death” as a core element and elicit a response from the audience through visual and auditory stimuli. A dark atmosphere, the use of confined spaces, and the application of makeup and special effects are typical devices used to amplify the audience’s fear.

Differences Between Eastern and Western Horror

Eastern and Western horror feature distinct styles stemming from cultural differences. Western horror tends to emphasize direct and violent depictions, the appearance of characters such as serial killers or psychopaths, and intense visual stimuli.
In contrast, Eastern horror favors subtle and internalized fear. It creates a sense of fear that is almost there but not quite, through grudges, ghosts, and mysterious events unfolding in everyday spaces (such as schools and homes), and often employs a visual palette of cold, somber colors.
For example, Eastern films like ‘The Grudge’, ‘The Ring’, and ‘The Ghost Story of a High School Girl’, and Western films like ‘Friday the 13th’, ‘The Exorcist’, and ‘Saw’ are prime examples of their respective regional styles. While it’s impossible to definitively say which is scarier, the approach and the lingering impact on the audience are clearly different.

Why I Came to Love Horror Movies

Personally, the first horror movie I ever saw was ‘The Exorcist’. The impact it had on me as a child was intense, and from then on, I developed a habit of seeking out movies centered on fear and thrills. The horror genre provided me with fresh stimulation and expanded my imagination.
My surroundings also played a role. My teachers and friends enjoyed horror movies, and the experiences of watching them together and getting excited fostered my affection for the genre. One reason I felt a personal connection to ‘MAY’ is that my high school nickname was “May”; this sense of shared identity with the name further fueled my interest in the film.
Ultimately, horror movies appeal to me because of their unpredictable imagination, the expression of repressed emotions, and their power to tug at the audience’s psyche. I find works that go beyond mere cruelty or spectacle—those that deal with the wounds of human relationships and failed attempts at healing—particularly resonant.

Synopsis of the movie “MAY”

The protagonist, May, who had had a squint in one eye since childhood, grew up being bullied by her peers. May’s only friend was her doll, Suzy, and she experienced nothing but failure in her relationships with people.
One day, a man named Adam appears and finds a peculiar beauty in May’s traits—including her hobby of sewing and the strange thrill she feels at the sight of blood. Polly, a lesbian coworker, also harbors strange feelings for May and tries to seduce her. Having formed her first human connections, May gradually becomes obsessed with others.
On the night she invited Adam over, just as they were about to kiss, May sensed Suzy’s jealousy and bit Adam’s lip. After this incident, Adam, overcome with fear, left, and Polly also left May after finding a new lover. Soon after, the cat May had been raising died, and even Suzy, the doll she cherished most, was accidentally broken.
Recalling her mother’s words, “If you don’t have a friend, make one,” May ultimately decides to create a doll friend who will never leave her by gathering the most beautiful parts of various people. She takes Adam’s hand, Polly’s neck and torso, Polly’s girlfriend’s legs, the arm of a punk she met on the street, and even the skin of her own cat, sewing them together.
Finally, she removes her own eyeball to replace Suzy’s fake glass eyes and attaches it to the doll’s face; the film ends with a shocking conclusion accompanied by Suzy’s heart-wrenching scream.

Analysis of the Protagonist, May

May had been bullied since childhood because of her appearance, and as a result, she had come to rely on her doll, Suzy, for most of her emotional connection. Because the doll never leaves and stares intently only at Mei, she becomes excessively obsessed with it.
She works at a veterinary clinic and enjoys needlework as a hobby. Her experience with sewing and animals enables Mei to create her “perfect friend.” She is highly possessive and sometimes exhibits bizarre behavior; scenes such as putting a cat’s corpse in the freezer raise suspicions of mental health issues.
The doll, Su-ji, can be interpreted as another self or a fantasy that resonates with May’s emotions. May is so lonely that she tries to create a friend for herself, and her obsession and frustration tie into the film’s horror theme.
While killers in typical horror films usually have a frightening and menacing appearance, May—who seems outwardly ordinary—actually evokes a more sorrowful and unsettling sense of horror. Her actions are impulsive and carried out with lightning speed, and she shows almost no remorse even after committing murder. This characterization leaves the audience with a sense of sadness and darkness.

The Horror the Film Pursues

Director and screenwriter Lucky McKee’s debut film, ‘MAY’, received critical acclaim at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival despite its low budget. Unlike typical Western horror films centered on murder, this film creates horror by delicately stirring the characters’ emotions.
Through the motif of a doll, it visualizes the horror of unfulfilled desires and isolation. As in famous doll horror films, objects that resemble humans but lack life evoke intense anxiety and unease. However, this film emphasizes the psychological horror stemming from relational deprivation and obsession rather than sensational gore itself.
In particular, the scene from the short film watched alongside “May”—a brief short in which two lovers begin tearing off and eating each other’s body parts—condenses the message the director seeks to convey. This symbolizes that even a relationship based on “love” is imperfect and has the potential to cause mutual harm.
Ultimately, the horror this film seeks to evoke lies in the fact that certain gore effects transcend mere shock value and are interpreted as realistic expressions of the wounds and unresolved deficiencies in human relationships.

Analysis of Key Scenes: The Meaning of the Final Scene

The most striking visual is the final scene. May, having torn out her own eyeballs and now completely exhausted, lies on top of the friend she created—referred to here as “Amy.” Amy is a lifeless being pieced together from dead body parts.
The surprising twist is that, even though no soul inhabits this completed body, there is a scene where Amy appears to be stroking May’s face. This leaves the audience unsure whether it is a fantasy or reality, stimulating their imagination.
This scene allows for multiple interpretations. One is that May sacrificed even her own soul to create the perfect friend; another is that Amy has become an idealized alter ego of May, a being that compensates for May’s shortcomings.
Through this ambiguity, the director prompts the audience to ask, “What do we ultimately lose in pursuit of the perfection we desire?”

A Brief Overview of the Definition and History of Horror Films

Horror is a genre for which it is difficult to pinpoint a single origin or first instance. It developed under the influence of diverse cultural contexts, including medieval European vampire legends, 19th-century British horror literature, Native American shamanism, and South American animistic beliefs.
Since the release of works like the 1919 German Expressionist film ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, the genre has continued to branch out, and today, subgenres such as splatter, occult, zombie, slasher, gothic, and hard-core coexist. Generally, horror induces a fear response in the audience through visual and auditory stimuli and frequently features “death” as a central element.
Audiovisual elements such as special effects, makeup, sets, lighting, and CGI are frequently used to amplify the horror effect. Due to the genre’s diversity, the audience is broadly divided according to their preferences.

A Comparison of Eastern and Western Horror

Eastern horror is characterized by subtle and restrained terror, whereas Western horror tends to favor direct and violent depictions. As a Japanese director pointed out, Asian horror excels at slowly building a sense of unease rather than relying on rhythmic exaggeration.
Eastern horror often features themes such as ghostly maidens, grudges, mirrors, and dolls, and uses everyday spaces like schools or homes as settings for horror. It frequently features female protagonists and uses cold, blue-toned visuals to create a sense of fear that is just barely perceptible.
In the West, the “psycho,” “serial killer,” and “slasher” genres have flourished, inducing shock in audiences through sharp weapons like knives or chainsaws and visually jarring red tones. Male protagonists are more common, and the films often explicitly depict visual and physical violence.
It’s impossible to definitively say which style is scarier. It’s simply a difference in approach and sensibility; ultimately, both can convey a strong sense of lingering dread or chill.

How I Came to Love Horror Movies

Personally, the first horror movie I ever saw was ‘The Exorcist’ when I was a child. The shock and novelty I felt back then helped reduce my aversion to horror movies, and as I was exposed to various horror and thriller films afterward, I became immersed in the genre.
My surroundings also played a role. My teachers and friends were very interested in horror movies, and our shared experiences of watching films together and getting excited over scary scenes made me appreciate the genre even more.
Another reason I’m particularly attached to the movie ‘MAY’ is that I felt an inexplicable sense of kinship with it—perhaps because the title coincided with a nickname I used to have. Horror movies are a place to encounter filmmakers’ extraordinary imaginations, and they also provide pleasure and catharsis through the way repressed emotions are expressed. These are the reasons I enjoy horror.