Ma, you're such a loser
I recently watched the film Ma with the fiance, and while I enjoyed Octavia Spencer's performance, like I always do, however I find the film a bit flat. I'm guessing that's just how it was made?
When I watch movies, I don't watch trailers nor read the synopsis. I judge the films I watch by the actors, their title, their movie poster, and its first few minutes.
I wanted to watch Ma because, you guessed it, of Octavia Spencer. I loved her in The Help, Hidden Figures, and Self-Made. Seeing her star in a horror film is really a change in my discography of hers. I asked my fiance to watch it with me after we watched "Mama" last week (which I need to write about as well, I loved that film.)
Octavia's Sue Ann made me roll my eyes majority of the time. As much as I want to have sympathy for her, she is insufferable throughout!
Sue Ann has all the reasons in the world to get mad at her high school bullies. She was basically sexually harassed and made a laughing stock in front of their classmates. Her best friend, Erica, was too much of a coward to save her from the situation, and the other was just too evil.
She had all the reasons to want to avenge herself, but for someone in their 40s with a child, partying with the kids of your high school bullies is such a pathetic move.
She did all she can to bond and jive with them. The way she never get to do when she was younger. She removed her daughter from that type of culture just so she can be the one to enjoy the life that high school came with.
Ben and the others, should have never done that. I understand if Sue Ann came after them. She killed Mercedes? I would understand. She killed Ben, I would understand. I do not condone but I understand.
Why go after the kids? The kids didn't know what their parents did? They have found their own way of being deviant, but they didn't have anything to do with their parents' past.
Sue Ann's irrationality is the most terrifying part of the show. Every decision she made didn't make sense to me, but it did for her. She was following what she thinks is a must to make herself happy, and it makes me sick to the stomach to know that some people do think like this.
She lured innocent kids to her basement to commit underage drinking and consumption of dangerous drugs. She caused physical harm and even homicide to these kids, even her own. For what? To heal the way she thought she should.
She died in the cold dead arms of the man she's infatuated with a good 2 decades ago. Ben, the man who lured him to a janitor closet and had her perform fellatio on another random man, making her believe it was him.
This revenge film featured a handful of flashbacks to understand where Sue Ann was coming from. While I felt bad for her for a bit, I would've wanted to see more of what happened to her after the deed. How hard it was to get past it? How long did people brought it up? I want to understand how she coped.
I also wanted to see Genie more. Why was she being hidden in their house? She could've been a great instrument to lure the kids in since they're her age. Not that I think that's the right behaviour, but it could have been instrumental to the film. Sue Ann could've sought revenge using her daughter! Scamming moneys out their parents for an illness she doesn't actually have.
I wanted to see more of Genie's Munchausen by proxy, and how Sue Ann's thought process went by with every decision she made on her child.
The ending where she took the class picture was terrifying. It's my favourite scene in the entire movie. It sums up her wanting to be young again, and have a proper record of it.
Thoughts
All in all, it was not much of scare for a film categorised as a "thriller." Despite how interesting the story was, the way it was laid to us attracted more grunts than gasps. The best thing about the film is Octavia Spencer, watch the film for her, and get your adrenaline fix somewhere else.
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