Written by Scotty Landes
Directed by Tate Taylor
Ma: "Don't make me drink alone."
For Mother's Day (the US one, lol), I thought I'd finally get around to watching this underrated horror movie. A kindly older woman helping out some teenagers. I'm sure nothing bad will happen here.
The older woman in question would be Sue Ann Ellington (Octavia Spencer), otherwise known as Ma. A vetinary technician, Ma quickly proved herself to be useful to bunch of teenagers who needed an older person to buy them alcohol. If only they had asked just about anyone else instead.
Not only did Ma buy these teenagers booze but she even offered her home for said teenagers to get wasted and soon, a one off encounter became a very strange arrangement between all involved. I mean, Ma's attachment towards the terms gets so exhausting, even they get a bit creeped out by her overenthusiasm for underage drinking in her home.
However, the movie soon revealed that Ma's interest in the teenagers had more to do with getting revenge on being previously wronged herself. In high school, she got humiliated into performing oral sex on the wrong guy and reduced to a laughing stock. The object of her affection and ire also happened to be the father of one of the teenagers themselves.
Ma's revenge on Ben Hawkins (Luke Evans) was fairly swift as was the way she also handled Mercedes (Missi Pyle) but the treatment of her own daughter, Genie (Tanyell Waivers) showed that she wasn't any better than her own teenage tormentors. Also the wa she targeted these teenagers showed her to a pretty dangerous individual.
The teens in question included Maggie (Diana Silvers), Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Chaz (Gianni Paolo), Haley (McKaley Miller) and Darrell (Dante Brown). One by one, Ma got to them with various methods and had it not been for Genie turning on her mother and Maggie's own mother, Erica (Juliette Lewis), Ma's actions definitely would've been so much worse. Her downfall came to somewhat of a fiery end.
- The director, Tate Taylor has previously worked with Octavia Spencer on The Help and Get On Up. He played a cop here that ended up being shot by Ma.
- Originally a white actress was intended for the role before Tate Taylor brought Octavia Spencer in for the movie.
- Standout music: Zach Rogue's Horizons and Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting.
- Chronology: Takes place over the course of a few days but over twenty years since Sue Ann being humiliated by Ben. Movie is set in Ohio.
Ma was something of an unexpected delight. I really like Octavia Spencer as an actor and she's very chilling in parts as the title villain. The teens themselves aren't the most interesting to watch but in this movie, I actually got the feeling they weren't meant to be.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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