Ma Review

Rotten Tomatoes

Don’t make me watch this movie alone…too late, I already did, and considering the film is about a crazy lonely person, I can’t say I’d recommend the solo experience. Watching Ma by myself made me feel way too much like the central antagonist, and I do not like that. But otherwise, the film is entertaining and takes its premise to a level I did not expect.

Teenagers want to drink and party. Ma, a vet assistant, buys them the goods and offers a safe haven for them to conduct their habits. Letting her own traumatic high school past seep into her intentions, things start to get weird at Ma’s house.

A co-worker of mine implored me to go see this film, curious of what my reaction would be, stating it was one of those movies that would make you go WTF; after watching Ma, my only reaction was WTF. When the credits began to roll, my fingers were visibly shaking, and the only thought racing through my head was “What the hell did I just watch?” I was unnerved, distraught, and while I’m sure horror buffs have seen way worse, Ma got to me. It surprised me how uncomfortable the film made me. And even better, the film is self-aware of what it is: a cheesy date-night horror thriller. So, there are laughs to be had as well while watching the film. There are multiple occasions where something will happen unexpectedly or be so ridiculous, you can’t help but find humor in them; under no circumstance should you take this film seriously.

When the trailers say, “See Octavia Spencer as you’ve never seen before,” they aren’t kidding. She is wild, and totally sells being this crazy lady hell-bent on revenge. Ma reminds me of Michael Myers if he was a black woman who partied with teenagers before he killed them, and in the latter half of the film, Spencer transforms into an intimidating force.

Ma is silly fun, blending thrills with laughs, but what truly makes this film worth seeing, is Octavia Spencer having the time of her life in a role we wouldn’t normally get to see her in. 7/10

Author: Teddy Frederick

Movies have been my passion since I was a young teenager. I had realized how much I loved going to the theater and watching something on the big screen, and I wanted to feel that sensation as often as possible. I began seeing as many movies as my schedule and wallet could allow, and in wanting to give back to the film community and myself, I wrote film reviews. I first posted them under the audience reviews of Rotten Tomatoes; if I ever go back to those posts now I cringe at the writer I used to be. In 2018, I had the idea to start my own space to post my content and thus Movie Reviews Today was born. I am a film and media studies student at Arizona St. University. I am also a three-year shift supervisor with Starbucks. My hope is to soak up as many movies and movie knowledge as I can moving forward and to share my passion with my readers. View all posts by Teddy Frederick