Ma

Starring: Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Dante Brown, Tanyell Waivers, Dominic Burgess, Tate Taylor, Luke Evans, Allison Janney
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of teenagers befriends a lonely woman (Octavia Spencer), who lets them party at her house. Her increasingly bizarre behavior begins to create real concern for them.

Review:

Tim: It felt like a lot of solid elements were present in Ma, but somehow, I just couldn't enjoy the movie that much. It's perfectly fine as a horror movie, but those elements never felt like they came together in a really compelling way. As a whole, I was disappointed in this movie, even though it wasn't an outright bad film.

One of the biggest complaints I had is that the group of kids is so unlikable. The plot of the movie is straightforward- a woman eventually terrorizes a group of high schoolers she had befriended. What's important is that you actually care about the potential victims. That's a fairly basic requirement for a successful horror film. Diana Silvers isn't bad- she's the most likeable in the film. I wouldn't say she gives a great performance, but it's a worthwhile one. Still, I didn't really care about her character. McKaley Miller wasn't bad, but her character felt poorly written. She didn't have much to work with, which made it hard to care about her character. Corey Fogelmanis wasn't good. He might have a little worthwhile vulnerability at times, but his character was so unlikable. His performance didn't help at all. Gianni Paolo was completely forgettable. Dante Brown wasn't much better. And to be totally transparent, I had to google image search each of them because I can't remember a thing about their performances. As a group, it's one of the more lackluster pairing of actors I've seen. I would be shocked if any of them emerged as actual stars. The talent felt low across the board. That absolutely sinks the movie. You don't have memorable characters, some of them you actively dislike, and whatever peril they find themselves in is muted. It's a weird quirk of this movie that the main cast was so hard to care about.

It definitely feels like they were an afterthought. Most of the movie's marketing and the focus of the film feels like it's on Octavia Spencer as the titular "Ma" (which was really annoying to hear high school kids repeatedly say). I suppose Spencer gives a good performance- it's definitely unhinged at times. Unfortunately, it also felt forced at various points. I didn't really believe her in the role. She has a few solid, chilling moments, but this isn't the most memorable horror villain, either. It felt like the movie made her character so cringe-worthy. There were numerous moments when I was just so uncomfortable watching her in this role. Some of that is good- it shows that her performance was effective. Unfortunately, it also makes this somewhat of an unpleasant film to watch. That's actually how I felt about a lot of the movie- it just wasn't very fun. It's not a movie I would ever want to sit down and watch again. There was a way to tell this story that was just more enjoyable for the audience.

The larger supporting cast is actually fairly solid. Juliette Lewis did some decent work, as did Luke Evans. I enjoyed both of their performances here. I was glad to see Allison Janney, but she does almost nothing meaningful in the film. As a whole, Tate Taylor does not get even close to the full potential of his cast.

Speaking of Taylor, I'm still not completely sold on him as a director. The Help was really good, The Girl on the Train was solid, but Get on Up wasn't as good as it could have been. You add Ma to that list and it's easily the worst movie he's done yet. This feels like a movie from an inexperienced director, not someone who has done the films he's done. I wonder if it's just a misstep or if this is actually closer to his real level of talent. That's not to say there's not effective moments, but as a film, Ma just didn't work and didn't hold my attention. It felt like Ma wasn't creepy enough, until she loses it and then it just wasn't believable. Spencer is the most memorable part of the film, the rest just kind of blurs together.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Girl on the Train, The Help