Directed by Tate Taylor
Starring Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Silvers
Rated R for violent/disturbing material, language throughout, sexual content, and for teen drug and alcohol use
Ma is a horror film directed by Tate Taylor and stars Academy Award winner, Octavia Spencer. Tate and Spencer have worked together in The Help, in which Spencer won an Oscar for. Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer) is a middle aged woman who starts to buy alcohol for minors and throws parties in her home. Sue Ann, or commonly referred to as Ma, soon starts to stalk and become obsessive with the kids she starts to party with.
Octavia Spencer as Ma gives a great performance. She is a lonely woman who was never given a chance in high school and in life in general. A good villain is one who the audience who can sympathize with. Ma is someone who is sympathetic and the audience can relate to Ma and understand why she is obsessive. In one scene, you can genuinely feel Ma’s emotions as she tearfully cries as how she is treated. This all comes down to Spencer’s acting, who is an exceptional actor in all her roles. There is a reason why Spencer is an actor with an Oscar with multiple nominations. The highlight in Ma is Spencer who shines as a villain.
But Ma is not just a horror film, it is a psychological horror film. I generally like horror films that get more in depth with its characters. Ma is not just about a middle aged woman being obsessive about teenagers, it is about how one characters takes revenge on teenagers due to her traumatic experience in high school. With the film being a psychological horror film, it does not rely on cheap jump scares as often as another horror film with as it doesn’t need to. The scares from the film come from the fact that someone as crazy as Ma is a character some people can actually relate to.
Unfortunately as much as I give props to Spencer and her character, Ma does yield some mixed results. Ma feels a bit slow in certain scenes, which does bring the movie down. The teenagers in the film are also a bit forgettable as well. The actors playing the teenagers do a fine job with the material given but in the end, the characters they play are not something you take away with as being a highlight of the film.
In addition, the film is predictable. The moment we saw Ma being yelled by her boss (played by in Allison Janney in a surprise role) , we knew how she was going to end up. The moment we saw a young, quiet girl in what seems like the 80’s, we knew how it was going to end up. Having a predictable screenplay is a sign that the film was not well written. The screenplay also has an anti climatic ending. The ending just end abruptly, there was a missed opportunity in the third act.
Although Octavia Spencer does a great job as Ma, Ma is a film that feels like a slow burn and ultimately suffers due to it. Ma is a unfortunately a forgettable film but hopefully we get to see Octavia Spencer in more starring roles down the road.
2.5/4
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