Parents should go to any length to protect their children.  It’s not just love.  It’s a biological imperative.  But sometimes emotions are no match for biology, and these emotions get horribly twisted.  There are some parents who kill their children and believe that this is protection.  These parents find some sick, awful salvation in death.  Mama hints at going to this dark, disturbing place, but ends up playing it safe.  The movie dances around what it means to protect and neglect a child, and the film deserves credit for attempting to stretch beyond, “It’s good to love and nurture innocent kids.”  Unfortunately, the film is bogged down in poor pacing and pushing a crummy monster rather than letting the strong performances and cinematography convey an unsettling subtext.

Brendan Fraser has been struggling on the big screen in the last few years after The Mummy dried up and Dwayne Johnson muscled him out of the Journey franchise.  That being said, Fraser has a slew of projects lined up for the next few years; count the action-thriller Split-Decision among them.  Starring as a father who must protect his children from killer brothers after witnessing a murder, Split-Decision doesn’t sound like the typical light-hearted fantasy fare we’re used to seeing in Fraser’s family films.  Hit the jump to see who’ll be filling in the roles of Split-Decision.