Ma is a psychological thriller from director Tate Taylor (The Help, The Girl on the Train) and horror impresario Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions. It stars Octavia Spencer as the deceptively unhinged Sue Ann Ellington, who earns the nickname ‘Ma’ from the neighborhood kids. The cast also includes Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans and Missi Pyle as Sue Ann’s old classmates along with Diana Silvers, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis and Dante Brown as the unlucky teens who cross paths with the psychopath next door. Spencer also produces with her frequent collaborator Taylor.
Taylor, who tried out his thriller chops in The Girl on the Train, goes into horror mode in this film. His not-so-secret weapon this time out is Spencer, with their most-known work The Help netting her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. It’s a great performance by Spencer, who has to be as sweet as peach cobbler and then as venemous as a snake the next. Sue Ann is unpredictable and merciless, able to fool anyone in her vicinity, and because Spencer is such a good actress, so is Sue Ann.
The story includes flashbacks to her younger days, with young Sue Ann played by Kyanna Simone Simpson, as she is mocked and tormented by her cruel classmates. However, none of that explains why and how Sue Ann becomes such a villainess, and perhaps that’s for the best. Mystique makes villains scarier, and whether the film is either attempting to earn sympathy for the devil or provide reasoning for her revenge, it fails at both. Sue Ann may be tragically stuck at a moment, but the film is ill-served by showing us so much behind the curtain.
Still, Taylor and his crew manage to create a sense of sustained menace. We never know just when Sue Ann is going to appear, due to her ability to stalk her victims through 24/7 smartphone surveillance and a boundless supply of their own social media posts. The horror beats that arrive (a jump scare, a twisted reveal) are hit-and-miss, but when it hits, it lands with a wallop. Like Blum’s and Jordan Peele’s mega-hit Get Out, Ma demands audience participation and yelling at teens not to open that door or go in that room.
The rest of the cast is solid; the teens themselves being veterans of numerous shows and television appearances. We get why they would give Ma a chance, and use her basement as a place of refuge in this sleepy town. Sue Ann’s basement becomes a bit too popular, stretching the limits of suspending disbelief. The teens’ collective listlessness, and Diana Silvers’ Maggie as the new girl wanting to fit in, go a long way in selling Sue Ann’s spot as the place to be. And once again, kudos to Spencer having to play Sue Ann’s overly saccharine cheer, her need to vicariously live through these teens, and her psychotic obsessiveness one right after the other (and sometimes simultaneously).
Ma has a old school sense of pace, courtesy of editors Lucy Donaldson and Jin Lee. The script by Scotty Landes (Workaholics) takes its time, not saturating the audience with pointless failed scares so even when the scares don’t work, the characters still do because we’ve gotten to know them. Cinematographer Christina Voros uses her documentary background to ground Ma in everyday realism, only for the surreality of Sue Ann’s domain to creep us out just enough in contrast. A special mention goes to Gregory Tripi’s fantastic score, utilizing unorthodox instruments to bathe us in an atmospheric soundscape only to jolt us with classic horror movie vibes.
Ma is well made, has less teeth than the marketing suggests, but nonetheless keeps a sharp bite thanks in large part to its headliner Octavia Spencer. It is a nightmare born out of a life unfulfilled, and though its sadness outweighs its scariness, the creepiness of it all lingers after the credits.
Rating: 4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ABOUT UNIVERSAL PICTURES’ MA
Everybody’s welcome at Ma’s. But good luck getting home safe.
Oscar® winner Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann, a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town (Diana Silvers, Glass), to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own.
She offers the kids the chance to avoid drinking and driving by hanging out in the basement of her home. But there are some house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober. Don’t curse. Never go upstairs. And call her “Ma.”
But as Ma’s hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma’s place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on earth.
Ma also stars Juliette Lewis (August: Osage County) as Maggie’s mom, Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast) as a local dad, Missi Pyle (Gone Girl) as his girlfriend, and McKaley Miller (TV’s Hart of Dixie), Corey Fogelmanis (TV’s Girl Meets World), Gianni Paolo (TV’s Power) and Dante Brown (Lethal Weapon TV series) as Maggie’s friends.
From Tate Taylor, the acclaimed director of The Help and Get On Up, and blockbuster producer Jason Blum (Get Out, Halloween, The Purge series) comes a thriller anchored by a daring and unexpected performance from Spencer, one of the most powerful actors of her generation.
Ma is written by Scotty Landes (Comedy Central’s Workaholics), is produced by Blum for his Blumhouse Productions, by Taylor, and by John Norris (executive producer, Get On Up), and is executive produced by Spencer, Couper Samuelson, Jeanette Volturno, and Robin Fisichella.
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