Ma - Movie Review



Plot: 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.
Cast: Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans
Director: Tate Taylor
Certificate: 15 (strong violence, sexual abuse, threat, sex, drug use, very strong language)
Runtime: 100 minutes
Release Date: Friday 31st May 2019
Over the past few years, production company Blumhouse, have had quite a string of successful horror endeavours. Last year they released the Halloween reboot, and arguably the strongest entry into the Purge series. However, in amongst their success, Blumhouse have an occasional knack for missing the target and delivering a horror dud. Sadly, Ma is that dud.
First and foremost, the majority of my praise for Ma must be placed squarely on the shoulders of Octavia Spencer. She is unquestionably committed to this role, and gives 210% in every scene. Even if the dialogue is poor, character motivations make no sense, and she needs to karate chop down a pyramid of beers to the tune of 'Kung Fu Fighting', Spencer puts everything into this role. Without her, Ma would have been a disastrous car crash. Admittedly, the film has an intriguing premise, that could have resulted in a tense, hardcore psycho-thriller, with a domineering central performance. Unfortunately, the execution misses the mark entirely. Ma follows a group of teenagers who, after convincing Spencer's seemingly sweet and wholesome stranger to buy alcohol for the teens, begins to insert herself into their lives. She continually invites them and many others over for parties. She'll arrive unannounced at their school, and appear at their homes. There is a certain level of creepiness to Ma and her incessant need to control these teenagers, but rather than allow the film to descend into horrific turmoil, director Tate Taylor, and screenwriter Scotty Landes, prefer to play the long game. The VERY long game. At a total runtime of 100 minutes, around three-quarters of Ma is centered on Ma partying with teenagers, and making creepy comments or suggestions. The torturous, psychotic violence that the trailer promised us, only occurs in the final act. Until then, what we're left with is a formulaic, uninteresting, bizarre screenplay that comes across like a rejected Saturday Night Live sketch.


FACT: Missi Pyle and Octavia Spencer both guest starred on the show, Mom, with Alison Janney
My fundamental issue with Ma, is that I found the entire experience to be surreal, and not in a good way. For a film that is seemingly grounded in reality, and doesn't present Ma as a heartless monster, but as a revenge-driven victim, her character and her actions begin to stretch the laws of believability. Scenes in which she is taking shots alongside sixteen year olds, to threatening to cave a teenager's head in, and then back to partying as if nothing happened, is incredibly peculiar. It became apparent that I was no longer sure what I was watching. Was this a serious psycho-thriller? Or was it poking fun at that very same genre? Sadly, it seems to have been the former. The main group of teenagers, were mostly underwhelming. They follow typical horror tropes, but rather than flip our expectations (a common Blumhouse trope), their character arcs play out exactly as expected. Each of them behave like morons, especially their lack of reluctance to return to Ma's, after life-threatening experiences. Diana Silvers, who also stars in Booksmart, is, perhaps, the least irritating of the teenagers, and gives her character a coy personality. Other familiar faces, such as Juliette Lewis and Luke Evans, all deliver inoffensive performances, but nothing close to memorable.
Ma's biggest flaw is the whole film feels and plays out like a fantasy. Believability is stretched far beyond the breaking point, and it's only a dedicated Octavia Spencer who can save it from disaster. The script is jumbled, tonally inconsistent, and disappointingly formulaic. A lack of chills, thrills and sense make Ma one to miss.
Luke's Verdict: 3.5/10

What did you think of Ma? Who is the creepiest movie stalker? Thanks for reading!!

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