Octavia Spencer is Stellar in Otherwise Incomplete Plot
Academy Award Winner Octavia Spencer… √
Horror film… √
Director of “The Help”… √
$5 million budget… √
The end.
Well, not quite the end but you get the point. We love Octavia Spencer and the idea of her expanding her portfolio even more is reason enough to head to the theater.
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting from Ma, but I found myself intrigued by a very non-typical horror movie plot, with Spencer playing the lead role. Spencer plays Sue Ann, an embittered middle-aged woman harboring resentment from high school. Because she still lives in the town where she was bullied and humiliated, she still has easy access to the people who ruined her adolescent years.
Much of the film is dedicated to Sue Ann’s efforts to reek havoc on those who hurt her. When a group of teenagers asks her to purchase liquor for them - her plan begins to take shape. The group of teenagers turn out to be the children of her former classmates.
Throughout the film an parallel to Sue Ann’s execution of revenge, Spencer shows us just how diverse she is as an actress. Sue Ann begins to party more with the teenagers and their friends in her basement. Her flirtation with the boys, although not completely developed - is predatory and lends itself to her true psychological issues.
Sue Ann grew up a nerdy black girl in what appears to have been a predominately white high school. She was not only the nerd, but the black, awkward, unimportant, nerd. The kids teasing her and promoting her inferiority and obscurity were all white. Other than surface evidence, Director Tate Taylor never delves into the heart of the racial matter in Ma.
Ma had so much potential and so many possible directions. It appears the storyline started and stopped before exploring many of its potential routes. To it’s credit, Ma isn’t predictable in the least bit.
Perhaps the most important dynamic of “Ma” is the implication of how traumas can linger in people and lead to them executing fatal ordeals.
Was Ma an exceptional movie? Absolutely not. Would I watch Ma again? Doubt it. What does Ma teach us about Octavia Spencer? The Academy Award Winning actress is not too celebrated to explore her acting options and we have to respect her for that.
Rating: 3/5 stars
