Ma (2019) Review!!!

Synopsis – A lonely woman befriends a group of teenagers and decides to let them party at her house. Just when the kids think their luck couldn’t get any better, things start happening that make them question the intention of their host.

My Take – While most small time studios have been scrambling with genres to find the right success ratio, producer Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions seems to have found the right formula for themselves in the genre of horror especially.

With multiple horror franchises like as Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and Insidious under their kitty, along with films like Sinister (2012), Oculus (2013), The Gift (2015), Hush (2016), Split (2016), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Happy Death Day (2017), Upgrade (2018), Halloween (2018), and Glass (2019), the studio now finds itself in a pretty potentate position, with the occasional Academy nominated dramas, Whiplash (2014), and BlacKkKlansman (2018), also to its name.

However, the studio’s biggest success came in the form of filmmaker Jordan Peele‘s films, Get Out (2017) and Us (2019), which revolutionized an untapped potential of seeing black actors with prominent roles in a lot more horror films.

A probable reason why Blumhouse quickly green lit, Octavia Spencer and director Tate Taylor‘s latest collaboration, following The Help (2011), with an important factor being how Spencer‘s own vocality about the pivotal nature of the part, as women of color have historically been denied leading roles in genre films. And unsurprisingly she is the sole reason to really invest in this film.

Inviting fear as much as empathy, trembling and needy in moment and calculatedly stoic in another; it’s a meaty role, one of immense menace and a real treat to behold. Her presence is screen-absorbing, and every moment without her feels empty. But apart from her, the film is nowhere as effective as advertised.

Despite borrowing elements from Stephen King‘s Carrie and Misery, the trite nature of the plot-hole ridden script, the pedestrian direction, and the plodding pace rob the film of any horror or thrilling elements. While the film has ended up raking $60.2 million, on its $5 million, this Blumhouse production is sadly, nothing but a toothless allegory for childhood trauma.

The story follows Maggie (Diana Silvers), a sixteen-year-old High school student, who along with her mother moves from San Diego to her small hometown in Ohio in the wake of her parent’s separation. With her mother Erica (Juliette Lewis) hoping that returning home will make things easier.

While Maggie initially suffers from the standard anxieties that comes with being the new kid, she quickly becomes a part of a group, by befriending Haley (McKaley Miller), who invites her to party with her friends, Andy Hawkins (Corey Fogelmanis), Chaz (Gianni Paolo) and Darrell (Dante Brown). After several failed attempts at convincing an adult to buy them liquor, their dreams of intoxication seem to be dashed, until they happen upon Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer), who volunteers to buy the kids a box full of booze.

Over the next few weeks, the middle-aged veterinary assistant ingratiates her way into the group’s social lives by providing them with alcohol and a basement to party in. The parties soon become wilder, as more high school students begin to come over to party at Sue Ann’s place, who the kids start calling ‘Ma.’ While the local teens initially see Ma as a lonely woman looking to relive her youth, Maggie begins to suspect that there’s something more sinister behind Sue Anne’s motivations.

While there is potential to be found in the film’s simple premise, it’s squandered beneath uninspired writing. Despite how ridiculous it sounds, the dynamic between Sue Ann and the teenagers is actually one of the well-orchestrated aspects of the film. In its first act, the film believably establishes a world where teenagers would agree to drink out of a stranger’s basement. The rules of this world are governed by small town sensibilities, one where you trust your neighbors, talk to strangers, and never lock your front door. Maggie’s outsider status serves a distinct purpose to explain her skeptical perspective of the situation in Sue Ann’s basement.

But, the biggest issue of the film is its dead seriousness. After establishing the dynamic between Sue Ann and this group of teens, it doesn’t take long for the film to spiral out of control. Despite the exciting potential of the film‘s truly unhinged premise, the film falls flat of living up to its premise.

It never manages to be as weird or scary as it should be, delivering a finished product that feels far too safe for its own good. This isn’t a horror film so much as a thriller with horror elements as director Taylor takes his time in building up to the true scares.

The early scenes spend a fair deal of time dealing with more mundane teenage problems, and despite her occasionally creepy actions, at first Sue Ann seems more like a desperately lonely woman than a threat. But as the suspense ramps up, so does the violence.

Plot threads never quite come together in a satisfying way, whereas other characters are never explored in great depth, resulting in an uneventful narrative that never elevates as the film steadily progresses. The film even haphazardly stitches together Sue Ann’s backstory with her present situation, weaving in plot related to her traumatic childhood memories, all the while refusing to truly reckon with the dramatic implications of these points.

It’s also revealed that Sue Ann has a daughter that she’s trapped in an awful Dee Dee Blanchard and Gypsy Rose scenario, where Sue Ann drugs her daughter, makes her daughter use a wheelchair and keeps her daughter out of school. Whereas Hulu just made an entire prestige drama series on this real-life story, the film relegates this horror to little more than an unexplained C-plot twist. Why is Sue Ann doing this to her daughter? Well, to give the audience an opportunity to learn more about Bella and fear for her safety, of course. If Sue Ann could hurt her own child, what would she do to Bella?

Considering that the film is supposed to be a thriller, the film is dampened by a severe lack of thrills, tension, or nail-biting moments of suspense, and several scenes just scream missed opportunity. This is mostly visible in the film’s ludicrous finale – Spencer’s agonizingly farcical, but with Taylor’s direction being so stern, it’s not grotesque but simply unbearable and misplaced.

When it all boils down to it, the film never quite gains momentum due to its underdeveloped story-line and uninteresting characters, and the finale fails to provide a rewarding conclusion. The film isn’t awful, per say, it’s just painfully mediocre.

However, like I mentioned above, Octavia Spencer delivers a solid performance. Once again showcasing she is capable of much more than the standard, unadventurous roles she is frequently offered. Here, Spencer sustains her portrayal of Ma as a likable mother figure even as she grows malevolent, which makes her all the more terrifying. In supporting roles, Juliette Lewis, Missi Pyle and Luke Evans are also good.

However, the young cast is serviceable. While Diana Silvers continues to be exceptional, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo and Dante Brown are just alright. On the whole, ‘Ma’ is a tired and predictable horror thriller that falls short of its potential, despite a committed performance from Octavia Spencer.