May(2003)
2003 · Lucky McKee · 93 min
A socially awkward veterinary assistant with a lazy eye and obsession with perfection descends into depravity after developing a crush on a boy with perfect hands.
Drama · Horror · Comedy
6.6738 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
3/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How May scares
It spends most of its runtime as a quiet, sad character study, following a lonely woman's awkward attempts to connect with people, and only tips into real horror territory in its last stretch. The dread builds slowly from watching someone unravel rather than from any outside threat, so it feels more uncomfortable and sad than thrilling. There's a jolt of gore near the end, but it's brief compared to how long the movie sits with her isolation and strange behavior beforehand. It works best for people who like slow, character-driven horror with dark comedy mixed in, not those looking for constant scares.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, May rates psychological 5/5, visceral 3/5, gore 3/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 3 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 8 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 95 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 78 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, awkward character study that quietly unsettles before tipping hard into disturbing chaos in its final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5.
How scary is May?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, May rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be moderately gory and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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