FRIGHT FEST: LET'S PARTY WITH MA

In Ma, we follow Maggie (Diana Silvers) as she moves to a small middle-of-nowhere town. It isn't long before she has a new group of friends: Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Haley (McKaley Miller), Chaz (Gianni Paolo), and Darrell (Dante Brown). While looking for booze and a place to party, they stumble across Sue Ann aka Ma (Octavia Spencer), who agrees to buy them the liquor they desire and even offers her cozy basement as a potential party space. Before you know it, Ma's basement has become the new cool place to party and hang out. Unfortunately, Ma has more than a few screws loose and hides a dark secret that she just can't seem to let go of. When Maggie and friends ultimately dismiss and embarrass Ma, they will have to suffer her wrath.

Ma isn't a terribly complex film, but it is fun for a good deal of its run time.  Ma, Maggie, and Maggie's friends are all likable and sympathetic (Though Maggie and crew do succumb to the dreaded curse of being stupid teens). The dialogue is also a good deal snappy too. For the first two acts play as a horror-comedy (with very little tension building or suspense. By her 2nd scene, Ma is already stalking the group on Facebook), while the 3rd act is just horror....though it isn't all that scary or bloody (I will say it is disturbing though). Although it appears to be a horror-comedy mostly, in reality Ma is actually more of a revenge film, and this is every bit as much Ma's story as it is Maggie's. There are numerous (unneeded and annoying) flashbacks that shed light on Ma's dark secret, and the film works hard at making Ma a sympathetic and sad character....it almost works.

Octavia Spencer is clearly having a lot of fun as Ma, making the character hilarious, unsettling, disturbing, creepy, and sad. She is always fun to watch on screen, but when Ma ultimately snaps, Spencer can't quite sell it. The film also has some notable adult supporting actors: Luke Evans, Missi Pyle, Juliette Lewis, and Dominic Burgess. They are all great, and most of them share a history with Ma. Their past sins might be passed down to their somewhat innocent kids.

Ma is certainly not a great film, but it is a lot of fun. The third act is kind of a mess, and there is no resolution at the end, which is sure to leave moviegoers with a deeply uncomfortable feeling (Maybe that's the point though). Ma ain't one of the best horror films of 2019, but it just might make the runners-up list. It's better than it really should be.

3.5 STARS