Movie Review: Ma

Come On, Ma

By Joanna Patzig 

NBC/Universal

There’s something about going to historic theaters that raises my expectations for movies a little. The movies these little places get are more curated than a normal box office, and they’re often so decorated and grandiose that everything seems important. The screen of the Byrd Theater in Richmond, Virginia did elevate the movie Ma at times, but not all of it. I can’t say enough that Octavia Spencer was amazing and she deserves an Oscar. The rest of the movie was just okay. 
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Ma fits well into contemporary horror genre, but unfortunately, it was pretty watered down. Most of the movie is spent developing the character of the high school victims and hinting a little to obviously at Ma’s backstory. It’s a slow build with some good jokes  and a few interesting turns, although I didn’t find it especially convincing. The character Ma drives the plot and adds a lot of intrigue in tension with the boring suburban scenes and camerawork. But when she was off screen it was hard to watch. Horror movies depend on timing to build suspense, and Ma doesn’t quite get it right. The movie felt drawn out to me at only an hour and forty minutes, and the finale of violence seemed more calculated than horrific. 

The plot borrows from so many contemporary horror flicks that it’s a little bit all over the place. There’s references to the story of Gypsy Rose and other medical horror films, and a big influence from Jordan Peele’s work in the undertones of humor and social justice. But unlike Get Out, it doesn’t go that far. Race is clearly relevant in the story, but it’s only brought up once. Rather, the movie focuses on more personal retribution, putting a black woman's victimhood at the center of her character as a serial killer. She’s empowered, but also a little demonized and a little sympathetic. It doesn’t quite make a critical statement, just like it doesn’t quite add anything but Hollywood capital to the genre of horror. Obviously, I was pretty disappointed. Still, Spencer was amazing, and it had some entertaining scenes. At the very least it was a good excuse to go to the Byrd on a Wednesday.