Octavia Spencer finally takes on a lead role in Ma, a good old trashy, funhouse horror flick, as the unhinged Ma/ Sue Ann, injecting more energy and charisma into her role than she does horse tranquilliser into her unwitting victims. Mixing elements that are reminiscent of Carrie and Misery, with ‘80s and ‘90s psychological horror, Tate Taylor’s Ma is the latest production through Blumhouse Productions, reminding you why accepting invitations to drink booze in the basement belonging to a stranger who calls herself ‘Ma’, who might not be as safe and caring as her namesake might suggest, possibly isn’t such a sensible idea…
“You guys want to party like rock stars, follow me”
Ma’s invitation to Maggie and her friends – tempting, but what happened to stranger danger?
The story itself is relatively simple to follow: welcome to Ma’s, where a group of stereotypical high school teens are invited to hang-out, drink, and party like rock stars, all thanks to a stranger they know simply as ‘Ma’ – totally not the kind of character your actual ma warned you about as a kid. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal – like the blurb to a high school teen rom-com. Only it’s got ‘Blumhouse Productions’ attached to it, and with no Zac Efron in sight, there’s no chance of a spontaneous musical breakout. If you think you know where this is going, you’ve probably got more sense than most high schoolers in these types of movies. It’s like they missed those Public Information Films they played at school. What happened to “Say NO to Strangers”?
For the most part Taylor relies on the cliché and doesn’t venture far outside the usual conventions. However whereas archetype slashers like Halloween divulge in gore and jump scares at every given opportunity, Ma avoids indulging itself as a gore-fest for two-thirds of the film, separating itself somewhat from the slasher label. Rather Taylor gradually builds up the anticipation hinting that Ma might be hiding something sinister, allowing Spencer to rack up some crazy points until the finale, at which point she goes wild and delivers some gore. There’s not too much to be squeamish about, though you might view sewing in a different light. Given Sue-Ann’s solitary life and her change in personality when she meets the teens, it’s hard to shake the feeling that there is a hidden message about midlife crises… quite an extreme one, at that.
“You’re free to do whatever you want down here, but nobody go upstairs”
Ma, reminding us that exploring basements and going upstairs in horror movies never goes well…
The titular Ma herself, or Sue-Ann, is played by Octavia Spencer, a middle-aged veterinarian’s assistant, who we discover through a series of flashbacks experienced a traumatic high school life. A chance encounter with a group of teens, including new transfer student Maggie (Diana Silvers), who asks her to buy the group alcohol, leads to a little escalation in her solitary life – and a little light Facebook stalking, of course. Unalarmed by how she got their contact numbers, the group are invited to use Ma’s basement to hangout and drink, so long as they don’t venture upstairs to the rest of her house. A reasonable request, sure, but we are sinisterly reminded by her quirky nature that ‘upstairs’ and ‘basements’ are bad in horror movies.
Perhaps most disturbing of all is the lack of security on their Facebook profiles. From here on out Ma’s plans escalate, and so does her personality, as it becomes clear that her attachment to the group of high schoolers turns into obsessive possessiveness – which seems to stem from her desire to join the group, since her youth was tragically ruined and experienced from outside friendship circles. The internal turmoil whether to join them or hurt them makes for some of the more intense moments, coupled with Spencer’s untamed energy and quirky humour.
Her experience at high school has clearly scarred her, even as an adult, showing how untreated childhood trauma at the hands of bullies can manifest itself later in life. In this sense, Ma becomes both villain and victim, as if continuing the story of Stephen King’s Carrie. As the plot develops it becomes more revenge oriented as it is revealed that there is a deeper connection between herself and the kids drinking in her basement.
At times Ma feels more like a B-Movie horror flick, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it is, at it’s core, a fun flick. Though it does mean that certain aspects of the film seem pretty shallow – not unlike the cliché “popular high schooler” character. There are opportunities to flesh out the story into more interesting directions, however by the final act, Ma ends up becoming more of a B-movie slasher flick, with a few nods to Michael Myers’ end in Halloween II, and a musical theme that echoes similar slasher soundtracks of the ‘80s and ‘90s with it’s use of synthesisers. While this relegates more focus on Ma’s character, and by extent Spencer’s acting, it’s a shame they don’t experiment more with the genre given there are some interesting themes at play. Though since it’s relatively short and fast paced, this didn’t drastically hamper the experience, so long as you don’t expect anything genre defying.
“There’s something off about Ma”
Maggie warning Andy about Spencer’s eccentric character
“Seriously? She’s harmless. And her basement’s pretty much the best drinking spot in town”
It will come to no surprise then that, thankfully, Octavia Spencer is easily the most endearing aspect of the film, thanks to the energy she puts into the character, making it a shame she has been relegated to support roles in the past – despite having received awards and nominations for her roles – including Shape of Water and Hidden Figures. It’s admittedly alarming how convincing her performance is and hard to imagine anyone else taking on the role as successfully.
There are moments where Ma’s unhinged personality clashes against her quirky humour, which can be both unnerving and charming in their own way, channelling Annie Wilkes (Misery), as she switches between a kind and caring ‘mother’ to nasty and antagonistic, which escalates to deadly – without undermining the vulnerability of the character that is gradually revealed. Ma is ultimately worth seeing just for her performance. That and of course to see her take shots, do the robot, and pull a gun out on a teen to make him strip, only to laugh it off as a ‘joke’… This is what Friday 13th and Halloween were missing out on: un-killable psychos, with an appetite for brutal murder and hardcore partying.
Appearances from the likes of Luke Evans (Ben) and Juliette Lewis (Erica Thompson), who each feature as the parents, add to the impression that Ma is a more prestigious B-movie, though they are ultimately overshadowed by Spencer. And while it is the teenage high school group who take most of the screen time, sadly they are largely serviceable in so far as they are stereotype horror teen characters.
Maggie Thompson (played by Diana Silvers) is perhaps the most memorable character and will likely remind viewers of the typical ‘final girl’ – along the lines of Sidney Prescott in Scream or Tree Gelbman from Happy Deathday, another from Blumhouse Productions. The rest of the group fulfil the archetypical roles you might expect; Andy Hawkins is the ‘nice guy’ and Maggie’s somewhat naive, dumb as rocks (especially in the final act) boyfriend; McKaley Miller will likely be recognised as the popular kid who drinks too much at parties (and of course she’s blonde); Gianni Paolo as more of a ‘Jock’ character (not much more to add than that). The predictable nature of this cast of characters is disappointing, considering how energetic and fun Ma is, yet because of her charisma it’s hard to be too bitter. It’s a shame the cast is so reliant on Spencer, though arguably the team of dull teens aids only in exaggerating her already manic pizazz.
“How does it feel to be on the outside looking in?”
Ma
As you might expect, thematically you’ll be reminded of the typical story that adults are useless, while teenage sexuality plays it’s part in the Carrie-esque revenge story to the accompaniment of Gregory Tripi’s OST, typically revolving around low growls to fill out the background and add a layer of suspense. For the most part it’s more serviceable, though during the closing scene, which echoes the burning house in Halloween II, a more theme-heavy synthesiser track – “Up In Flames” – plays, channelling the classic, high-tension slasher themes of the ‘80s and ‘90s. This is probably the most noticeable score, since Ma relies more on a compilation of songs, relegating Tripi’s scores to background noise.
The compilation in question serves to convey Ma’s quirky personality and often heard during her funky basement parties – including anything from “Funkytown” (which perfectly parallels her state of mind) to “Kung Fu Fighting” or Debbie Deb’s “Lookout Weekend.” Perhaps Michael Myer’s next outing – or perhaps offing would be more fitting – should be backed with similar choice songs to coincide with some hack-and-slash scenes? Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” or Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” perhaps?
Despite it’s misgivings, Ma is a fun horror flick, and although it doesn’t make many attempts to deviate from certain tropes, there are some compelling themes about the effects of midlife crises, childhood trauma, bullying, and it’s manifestations later in life. There are some unexplained plot holes by the end that should have been filled in, leaving us with unanswered question. Ma’s clearly got a case of Munchausen Syndrome, for instance, and we’re left wondering who her absent husband she refers to was? It’s hard to see a sequel coming out to resolve these issues, but then if Ma’s like all good (or evil) rampaging psychos, maybe she’ll make a dramatic comeback? Here’s hoping to more lead castings for Octavia Spencer, in the meantime.
