Movie Review: ‘Ma’ Blu-ray

Review by Monique Thompson

STARRING: Octavia Spencer, Corey Fogelmanis, Diana Silvers, Luke Evans, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller

RATED: R

EXPERIENCE OCTAVIA SPENCER LIKE NEVER BEFORE!

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.

Hello Blumhouse Productions…Hello Octavia Spencer! Ma brings to the big screen EVERYTHING a thriller should be. And let’s address the fact that Spencer morphs into an entirely different character than what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing her portray.

In Ma, we’re introduced to Sue Ann (Spencer), who as a lonely veterinary assistant, still longs to experience some of the things she missed out on in high school, notably hanging out with the in-crowd. When Sue Ann agrees to buy booze for a group of teenagers, she realizes this is her shot to befriend the cool kids. She initially appears to be the cool “grandma” that lets you party in her basement and wants you to call her Ma. It doesn’t take long before Ma’s obsessive behavior sets in and her ulterior motives come to the forefront. Things quickly progress to horribly bad for the teens and the madness ensues.

Not only is Ma obsessive, but this chick is full-on bat sh!t crazy! Just when you think things can’t get any weirder, the film totally takes you there with some type of ruthless behavior from Ma. Spencer takes this lead role and totally knocks it out of the park. The supporting cast is young and fresh, with the exception of a few veteran faces (Lewis) but memorable, raunchy, and produce some goods laughs. Each of their characters represent for the millennials and will likely be very relatable to them.

Ma will leave you laughing, sometimes sympathizing, but definitely realizing how insane Ma is. Completely loved it from start to finish.