MA

A lonely middle-aged woman befriends some teenagers and decides to let them party in the basement of her home. But there are some house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober, don't curse, and never go upstairs. They must also refer to her as Ma. But as Ma's hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma's place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on Earth.

It is clear that this film closely resembles the earlier release - ‘Greta’ because of the themes and nature of the films, I liked Greta but this film provided a really interesting and entertaining set of twists which helped to make it as exciting and entertaining as possible. Not only did ’Ma’ really build up the storyline in an intriguing way but through a variety of interesting and unique storyline additions, it was made really jumpy and at some points, creepy as hell!! The key question though, is ‘Ma’ on fire or is she more of a nuisance? Here are my thoughts.

I’ll start off with what I liked about the film, I thought that the start of it was really good in the way it introduced us to the characters and their lives, what I liked about it was how it didn’t feel cheesy or unrealistic which many films of the same genre do - I liked how the characters were portrayed as typical ‘newbies’ but they felt natural and relaxed, which allowed us to get a good grasp on how their lives changed and how their personalities and feelings adapt and change throughout the film. Not only did this help to intensify the characters partying scenes but also their friendship group and the way in which the characters feel during the later parts of the story - this is because we have a really good insight into how the characters were before and their relationships, during the scenes with Ma and then when the horror begins to kick in. I also thought that the way in which the group bonded and then went around trying to get adults to buy them drinks was cleverly done, and helped to open an efficient door for ‘Ma’ to enter the story - the storyline was intensified even more though after this which I thought was clever, there weren’t any scary or creepy scenes, the film pulled us into a sense of security and safety and then disrupted this with the child’s shouting at the party, this was a continued way in which the film lulled is into a sense of security and then used it against us. The characters were also surprisingly good here too, I thought that yes they were a little naïve, but that’s what makes a horror film work - apart from that they felt really realistic and exciting, it was really cleverly done by the film to build the characters up as a group and then single them out to make us uneasy. The actual characters in the film though were surprisingly entertaining, not only did they feel real but they seemed like a genuine group of friends too, they definitely weren’t stupid and that was shown when they spotted Ma wearing a stolen bracelet, something not made obvious to us - this added a lot to the characters and made them engaging because we could tell they were multi-dimensional. I also thought that they were well represented too, seeing them all at the parties together, and the various changes in the romance of Andy and Maggie was also interesting because it showed the twisted nature of Ma, especially when she began hunting them down due to their parents actions and then acting romantically and seductively just helped to intensify the twisted and strange nature of her. The actors behind these characters were great though, Octavia Spencer plays Ma with shocking empathy - even when things take a dark turn, you cannot help but to feel bad for her, because the flashbacks which occur throughout the film tell the story of her as a younger child being humiliated in front of the whole school - this adds empathy and sympathy to the character because we can tell she is hurting and how it affected her in an effective way due to the staggering of the scenes. This just adds so much more into the story and the flashbacks help to add meaning and purpose to the film, and allow us to understand the characters actions and feelings much better. This just made the characters in the film really exciting and fun to watch, whilst also feeling somewhat realistic and fresh.

A lot of the positives in this film surprised me because I was expecting it to be just another cheesy horror film with dumb characters and a foiled plot, but once again, it surprised me! Not only was the plot well thought through but I also liked how the flashbacks added continuity into the film, they were put together piece by piece and this really cleverly allowed us to follow Ma’s actions and feelings. I thought that the plot of the film was really well thought out though, by giving us a sense of security for the Ma character and then suddenly going downhill, only to find out that there is a sinister twist as she hunts down the people who embarrassed her, this felt fresh and exciting because it essentially added two fronts into the film, not only was she chasing down the parents but also the children too, and that kept the film's plot intense throughout. Not only was the film intense though but it was easy to understand but complex enough to have you thinking and guessing after leaving the cinema as to small parts of the film's meanings - they are the best types of films. The subtle scare scenes throughout also are really important too, because they keep the film exciting, seeing the two girls surprised by the daughter in Ma’s house wearing a mask, or when she has everyone tied up at the end really helps to just add intensity and excitement to the film, because even though the scare scenes are common, they still do their job of keeping the film interesting and us on the edges of our seats. The jumpy scenes are actually genuinely scary though like even though they are quite predictable, they are still effective at creating an intense and jumpy experience. What I enjoyed a lot about the film was that the story was pretty straight forward and made you either really felt sorry for the antagonist or really hate the antagonist. There are a few jump scares, extremely disturbing scenes, and a simple backstory to the antagonist's motives and reasons to her doings, but these helped to add shock and surprise to the film which we definitely didn’t expect, especially seeing the iron on the boy's stomach! Blumhouse does have a bad film making rep, but that's because they focus too much on the unreal. This movie focuses on the fear that not many horror movies do nowadays: fear of reality. All of this stuff in the movie is possible. The possibility that you will be at the end of somebody's twisted revenge plan is a fear that all of us don't wanna believe, but we have to when we are actually in this situation, the way in which this film hits home is especially interesting because it stays with us long after watching the film. The way in which the film's plot continuously changes and twists around also keeps it fun and entertaining too, and aligned with the consistent speed and simplistic storyline I thought that the film was really easy to understand and enjoy.

The film wasn’t perfect though, the backstory of why Ma is a monster ties in the plot pretty well but reduces her creepiness-factor because it allows us to sympathize with her. I wished they would have revealed less of her backstory as this would have intensified the horror element, in this scenario It felt like too much detail was given into her character which allowed us to somewhat sympathise with her instead of just being terrified which was a shame because usually in films it’s the other way around. I was also a bit let down by some of the plots intentions, a lot of it felt quite far fetched, some of the scenes felt like downright copied of identical scenes from ‘Greta’ such as the injections and noises from secluded rooms, it just didn’t feel too unique in some areas which reduced the scare factor overall. I was also a little bit confused as to some of the elements to the film too which didn’t seem to be portrayed in the clearest way, such as the relevance of her daughter being ill (I understand she was overprotective after her trauma) but a bit more context and detail into her would’ve been really good and I would have liked to have seen her play a more important role, I was also a bit confused by the man being killed at the end, why mix his blood with that of a dog if you’re just going to slit his wrists any way? The film had a few little confusing parts to it like that, where I found plot holes but on the whole, it was pretty solid.

Overall, I would give this film an 8 out of 10. I thought that it was an intense and enjoyable film with a lot of effective and efficient scare scenes, I also thought that Octavia played a really central role in getting the film to be as effective and as scary as possible, however in doing so I think that the directors maybe pushed too hard and made us feel sympathetic for her instead of feeling terrified, there was a balance but it wasn’t 50/50. There were also a lot of other elements to the film which should’ve been explored and would have helped to round up the film much more nicely, and the showdown at the end felt quite rushed and unnecessary really which was a shame. I would recommend the film though, I thought that it had the same intensity as ‘Get Out’ but it also didn’t have too much gore so that we could focus on the terror aspect of the film - and I think that it just edges it over ‘Greta’.

Thanks for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this. Have a lovely day! :)