Oscar winner Octavia Spencer gives us a never-before-seen side of her in the Blumhouse produced Ma. The film about a lonely woman who befriends a group of teens and not only provide them with booze, but also a place to party—her basement—also finds Spencer reuniting with her The Help helmer, Tate Taylor.
Ma is available now on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download. The most notable reason to dive into this thrill ride is Spencer. She is given quite the character arc by screenwriter Scotty Landes and handles it impeccably. Many actors would have just gone over-the-top with this needy “Ma” and not taken the time to deliver the audience some nuanced grey areas that exist in this psychologically challenged individual. With Spencer, it is a tour de force. The Oscar winner delivers a tenacious turn and achieves something extraordinary. The viewer actually has built up quite a cache of empathy for her, so by the time she starts behaving badly, we are still on board and ready to ride the S.S. Spencer into some wild and choppy waters.
As Ma commences, we meet Diana Silvers’ Maggie—a high school student who lives with her hard-working single mother Erica (Juliette Lewis). Maggie and her pals study hard and want to play hard. When you are that age, decisions can be made all in the sake of the almighty party that are not the safest. The first few times Ma has her new teenaged friends over, things go swimmingly. The kids are stoked they have a safe space to let their party flag fly and Ma is frankly just excited to have some company. There are extenuating circumstances to Ma’s emotional and personal plight that are illustrated with just the right amount of exposition. Too often films drag down the forward momentum (particularly thrillers) to dig deep into a character to provide “ammunition” for their actions. What Taylor and Landes achieve with Ma is they manage to keep that pace moving and with a number of somewhat throw-away lines achieve insight into characters’ motivations, actions and above all else—emotional pull. That last part may be the most important part.
By the middle of the second act, it has become crystal clear to Maggie that even if it means the conclusion of her friendship with these guys and gals, she is not going to Ma’s is she can help it. Her friends all believe that Maggie is overreacting and thus we have the writing on the wall syndrome that occurs in many a horror or thrill-fest flick. The eyes and ears of the audience in this case is Maggie, and we know all-too well that Ma is far from alright, but the rest of our ensemble must experience her horrors first-hand. After all, if they didn’t, we wouldn’t have much of a flick, now would we?! This is where Ma drags a bit. Before we can get to the pending pendulum swing away from Ma and into the mind of madness, teenage friends have to have teenage fights. They’re not always pretty scenes (or believable within the parameters of the already established story), but they get us to the promised land which is a powerful confrontation between Maggie and Ma.
These two are on a runaway train-level collision course.
Silvers is sensational. Spencer needed a battle partner for this entire endeavor to even work and she gets it in the young actress (who was also seen this year in Glass and Booksmart—yeah, she’s having quite a year!). Witnessing the two of them go tete-a-tete is such cinematic joy and is delivered in a manner that feels authentic.
Among the bonus features that you will want to check out first is an alternate ending that is a blast to experience. It will certainly serve as a great conversation piece, post movie, with whoever you have experienced Ma alongside.
As stated earlier, the arc of Ma, aka Sue Ann, is a remarkable one. Creating Sue Ann is a terrific take at the birth of the character on the page and also how past trauma or traumas can completely alter a person and worse still, not present itself beyond a subconscious presence for years. Someone did their homework with life trauma and the powerful and life altering shadow it can create. After witnessing this featurette, the next time you witness Ma—I would bet—you have a slightly more enhanced emotional connection to the character than before…which was already astoundingly rich!
Party at Ma’s is a joyous featurette that gets insight from many members of the ensemble, the crew and the main filmmakers that all add up to a delightful dish on how this unique thriller came to life. One cannot help but also get the sense that director Taylor has had a long-standing affinity with the horror/thriller genre and that he could not wait to sink his teeth into the milieu. That passion is on every frame of Ma.
Film Grade: B
Bonus Features: B+