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.
When I first saw this trailer I was pretty excited about this flick. It provided a fresh premise with Academy Award and Golden Globe winner, Octavia Spencer. To get that acting quality involved in a horror thriller is incredibly rare. So it goes without saying that there was a lot of disappointment to be had when the estimated August release for New Zealand cinemas turned into no release at all. Should it have had a theatrical release? And if it is available on DVD or streaming online, should you watch it?
Let's just get it out of the way and say that you could totally see the role having been written specifically for Spencer. In her previous acting roles, she has always been the wise, approachable, loving mother-figure. So to turn that emotionally-invested character up past 11 (maybe to around a 19 out of 10) it piggybacks off of all of her previous work. It's because of this depth of personality and character that Spencer has shown in the past, that makes it all the more disappointing that the film chooses to pervert that at such an early point in the film. With a 98-minute runtime, one would not expect any of the characters to start showing awkward, creepy, or obsessive traits after the first time we meet them.
It's pure laziness in the scriptwriting. Rather than a slow reveal that hints at what is really happening, reveals are made within the first ten minutes with little to no build-up at all. Where is the suspense? Where is the tension? Where is the uncertainty? It is pure laziness, and much to the detriment of the film to make the reveals so early on. Once our protagonist is aware of what is going on, you have written yourself into a corner, that you can only escape by having the most idiotic characters in existence. There are several occasions where the film could have been ended by involving the police. So many instances one could ask for help, but they don't...because.
The whole second act of the film was cumbersome and convoluted. Strung together by sequences of bad decisions that will frustrate the audience. There is actually a really good story within the script, but the execution as so haphazard and ill-thought-out. There is plenty of time to really develop the characters, and build a backstory, generating empathy and understanding, but instead, we have youthful one-dimensional idiots (one actor that has no role in the film apart from being present, thanks to his skin colour).
To have Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney, Luke Evans, and Juliette Lewis involved, but to put forward such a lacklustre script is a waste. There was an opportunity to keep our antagonist's motivations hidden until the final act, where they could bring in the action, blood, and gore. Instead, we have a lazily set up motivation with no follow-through. In the climax of the film, right when tensions were rising (ignoring the poor choice in restraining devices by the props team), they take their foot off the pedal and try to end the film like a shoddy Halloween remake.
Cinematography is nothing special, when--in a film that only uses limited locations--it really needed to make this film stand out. The colour-grading is bland and drained which, along with the drab set designs, does nothing to engage the audience.
There was potential for great actors to pull off a classic horror film with a unique premise. To their credit, the actors did well with what they were given. Unfortunately, the script and direction made Ma a boring flick to watch. There were a handful of very well-executed moments, but moments are not enough to make a movie. In hindsight, I can see why the release has been either delayed or cancelled. It's not worth the 98 minutes of your time. If you are truly curious, just watch the trailer. It gives away the whole film anyway.