Ma (2019)
2019
R
99 Minutes
Sue Ann is a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to ma...
User Review
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Oh “MA” god.......I really, feel as if this should’ve been so much more.
If I were to look back at the production of this film, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say this script and storyline was stuck in arrested development for quite some time given how everything turned out. Don’t get me wrong, the campy writing gives the film a tongue and cheek sense of humor and acting is fairly solid in most senses but it all truly boils down thanks to an unhinged performance by Octavia Spencer, for she sells every moment on-screen and makes her character very believable, very maniacal and very traumatized. But the film doesn’t do her performance or the writing any justice, for it has one too many limitations. It’s incoherent storyline with small yet brief little logic gaps, it’s pacing uneven the slow burn compared to the rapid domino effect halfway through, its use of comedy and thriller feels like a poor man’s imitation of GET OUT since neither aspects are fully taken advantage of, but the films’ inability to maximize its premise to its full potential and go off the rails, take a few risks, have some genuine fun with it, that’s what frustrates me the most here.
You know it’s never fun when you’re watching something that’s bound to get batshit insane and the film keeps building and building and building only to not hit the bullseye. It felt as if the filmwriters were generally scared to actually take a risk here and let the absurdness of the story speak for itself.
I swear if there’s one thing that frustrates me more than generic dreadful cliche horror films, it’s horror films that have actually have promise and get squandered because they don’t wanna step outside the box. Either go all out or don’t bother trying. Please dip yourself in the deep end of the pool or save yourself the trouble and don’t waste our time.1 member likes this review.
