Ma (2019) #467

 

What happens when you take a script that could be intended for a Lifetime Network movie, commit to the violence and language, and hire current well known actors? The end results in a movie like 2019’s “Ma”, starring Octavia Spencer and Luke Evans. The film crew knew exactly what kind of movie they were making and gave it their all. “Ma” is a fun, non-apologetic journey of a crazy lady wanting to be accepted. 

The movie was developed by director Tate Taylor, Octavia, and Blumhouse Productions. Tate and Octavia had worked together “The Help” and “Get On Up”. Octavia wanted to try something vastly different than any other role she’d had up to that point and Tate just wanted to do something “fucked up”. I’m not sure if I would consider “Ma” to be all that F’d up but it is something new for the two old time friends to try. When Tate offered Octavia the chance to star as a lead in a psychological horror film, she accepted the role without even reading the script.

As I mentioned, the story is about a lonely middle aged woman desperate to feel accepted. Octavia plays Sue Ann, a veterinary technician who buys some alcohol for some underaged kids. Knowing where they are going to go drink, she places an anonymous phone call to the local authorities who briskly break up their party. Sue Ann comes across the group the next day, buying them more alcohol and inviting them to her house so they can party without the risk of getting caught. And this begins an awkward, dark, sequence of partying and dependency.

Diana Silvers costars as Maggie Thompson, the new girl in town. She quickly makes friends with a group of teens who like to party but are otherwise decent kids. At first she considers Sue Ann nice and accommodating, but begins to suspect something sinister when she’s drugged and has her earrings stolen. When her friend Haley notices that Sue Ann is wearing a bracelet that belongs to one of her friends, the two girls decide to break into Sue Ann’s house to see what else she might have stolen or is hiding.

The cast includes Juliette Lewis, who plays Maggie’s mother Erica, Luke Evans, and Missi Pyle. The three were classmates with Sue Ann when she was in high school. They were the friends she thought she had and had always wanted. Now that she is friends with their children, will they accept her now?