Ma

Ma

Starring Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, Corey Fogelmanis

Directed by Tate Taylor

The Story:
Maggie (Diana Silvers) and her mother Erica (Juliette Lewis) just moved back to Erica's old hometown, and Maggie is nervous to start a new school, but immediately makes friends with Haley (McKaley Miller), Chaz (Gianni Paolo), Darrell (Dante Brown), and Andy (Corey Fogelmanis).  One day they're trying to get adults to buy them alcohol, and Maggie finds nice Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer) to do it for them.  Soon the teens are relying on Sue Ann to keep buying them booze, and she invites them to party in her basement so they don't drink and drive.

As the teens begin to take advantage of Sue Ann, she discovers that some of the kids belong to former high school students she went to school with, and Sue Ann begins exhibiting strange behavior.  Maggie seems to be the only one who notices this, and soon her friends also begin to realize something is off with "Ma," but it could already be too late.

The Synopsis:
I'm not a huge fan of roller coasters - in fact, I've never been on one nor do I ever plan to - but to me, "Ma" was like a roller coaster.  Not the entire ride, but the moment where you're slowly climbing the highest point of the coaster before the eventual downfall, as you eagerly anticipate the thrill that's to come, you sit in eager excitement for it to finally happen.  "Ma" is exactly like that moment on a roller coaster ride - the decent to the top is slow, but filled with exciting moments that leaves you anticipating the wild ride to follow.  Unfortunately, once the coaster starts its downward decent, you notice that it's only a two-foot drop.  The anticipation and hype was there, but the ultimate payoff seemed rushed and disjointed.

When I saw the trailer, I felt like it gave too much of the story away, and after a friend saw the film I asked if I was right by giving my own assessment of what would happen even though I hadn't seen it yet.  I hit the mark with every guess, but it didn't deter me from seeing it because, despite an oblivious plot, it's executed very well with top-notch performances and a killer soundtrack.  For a film that could've easily been a bottom-of-the-barrel direct-to-DVD debacle, it instead became a fascinating, unnerving horror revenge ride that - even if it landed flat - was still worth the price of admission.

Octavia Spencer is one of today's most respected actresses, who's really solidified herself as an A-list talent.  She's earned herself an Academy Award (for her supporting role in "The Help," whose director also directed her here), and a whole slew of other accolades that are well-deserved.  One of her first roles actually was a nameless nurse in Rob Zombie's "Halloween 2," and since then she never really dabbled in the horror genre until now.  Spencer gives it her all, and really relishes in a role that's much more than the sum of her parts.  On one hand she's a seemingly innocent older woman who really doesn't have any friends and desperately wants to belong.  On another hand she's been stewing a broth of hatred and revenge for years that's finally beginning to come to fruition.  Then on the third hand she's completely insane and disappears into long moments of blank stares and creepy mannerisms.  Octavia Spencer was an excellent choice for Sue Ann, and she nails her performance with pitch-perfect accuracy.

The kids in the film seem to be given the least amount of characterization, and I'm not sure if it's because director Tate Taylor didn't know how to write them.  They're your stereotypical teens you see in films like this: the stoners, the partiers, the chronic alcoholic drinkers, the promiscuous rebels - and they're completely dumb as rocks, even lead Maggie.  The film constantly goes back and forth from the kids loving Ma and wanting to be there to blocking her and not wanting to talk to her again, and then goes back in the circle of being friendly and back partying before remembering why they stopped in the first place.

What really surprised me was the caliber of adult actors Tate Taylor got for this film, especially since the younger stars are relatively unknown (which actually helped add a sense of realism to the film, as I wasn't thinking "this is so-and-so trying to play a teenager").  Juliette Lewis plays Maggie's mother with a blend of "Gilmore Girls" and stern maternal motherhood which is still odd to see since I remember Lewis the most from "Natural Born Killers."  Luke Evans plays Ben, the father of Maggie's boyfriend Andy, and gives a tight, balanced performance, while Missi Pyle plays Ben's latest love interest who's about as air-headed as you'd expect.  Then there's fellow Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress Allison Janney, who steals the scenes she's in as Sue Ann's boss Doctor Brooks, even though she's not given nearly as much material as she should have.

"Ma" does well in setting up its eventual insanity-fueled finale, but the ending has a bit to be desired.  It's all wrapped up way too neatly, and the craziness seems to come out of nowhere and go away just as quickly.  Still, with a strong performance by Octavia Spencer, it's still worth a watch to see how it all plays out.

The Summary:
Giving all her A-list abilities, Octavia Spencer elevates "Ma" from a traditional throwaway, forgettable horror revenge film and creates something a lot better, a film that will keep you guessing to the end, even if it ends kinda abruptly.

The Score: A