MA (2019)
Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 88 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish and French DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, Luke Evans
Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (Bad Santa) finally gets top-billing in the Blumhouse produced psycho-thriller Ma (2019), with Spencer playing the seemingly quiet veterinarian technician Sue Ann. A lonely woman whose kindly veneer just barely obscures a bit of the crazy sparkle in her eye, it's the sort of glint that screams potential insanity is looming right around the corner, and that's what's happening here.
Sue Ann befriends a group of local teens when new-girl in town Maggie (Diana Silvers, Glass) asks Sue Ann to procure some alcohol for her new found group of friends. Sue Ann tells the kids she feels bad about buying them the alcohol, that she would hate for them to be involved in an accident and get hurt, so she invites them to her house, where they can party down in the basement. She tells the teens they just have to follow a few simple house rules, no swearing, there needs to be a designated driver... and never go upstairs into her house, uh-oh.
The teens take her up on her offer and soon Ma becomes a bit of a naughty den mother for the local highschool teen population who end up partying at her house on the regular. Ma’s strange hospitality ends up turning into an unhealthy obsession when a few of the teens begin to recognize that something about Ma just ain't right!
Octavia Spencer is delightfully demented in Ma, she really goes for it with the unhinged weirdo persona, with a rather sad backstory with connections to the teenager's parents, a bit of sexual cruelty perpetrated on her by her classmates back in highschool, when she was a shy girl just trying to fit it. One of her tormentor's from the past turns out to be Maggie's mom Erica (Juliette Lewis, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), plus we also get appearances from Luke Evans (Dracula Untold), Missi Pyle (Gone Girl) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) as characters who are revenge targets for dear ol' Ma for various reasons.
I found this to be a fun throwback to the psycho-lady thrillers we saw a bunch of back in the late 80's and 90's, stuff like Misery (1990), Single White Female (1992), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) and the Queen of all psycho-bitch movies, Fatal Attraction (1987). Watching Octavia Spencer turn from a sad woman looking for acceptance into full-on nightmare den mother is a real hoot, she's fantastic, but the film is a bit uneven. I found her character's backstory heartbreaking but you cannot really have too much sympathy for her the way she goes about her years-late revenge, with the sins of the parents coming back to haunt their innocent children, but it is certainly an entertaining psycho-thriller, and Octavia Spencer is fantastic.
Audio/Video: Ma (2019) arrives on Blu-ray+DVD+Digital from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment presenting the film in widescreen (2.39:1) 1080p HD. The image looks crisp and clean, it's got a bit of a muted color scheme going on but the colors are strong, blacks are deep and the shadow detail is pleasing. The English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio has a good atmospheric mix happening, it's not wows-ville or anything, but dialogue is crisp and the score from Gregory Tripi some nice presence, optional English subtitles are provided.
Extras include a few brief featurettes, an alternate ending, deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer for the film. The dual-format Blu-ray/DVD arrives in a dual-hub Blu-ray keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork and a slipcover with a variation of the theatrical poster artwork. Inside there's a Movies Anywhere digital redemption code.
Special Features:
- NEW Alternate Ending (2 min) HD
- Creating Sue Ann – Take a deeper look at the character of Sue Ann, and how trauma from people's past can manifest itself later in life (3 min) HD
- Party at Ma’s – The cast, crew, and filmmakers discuss how all the elements came together to make this unique thriller (4 min) HD
- Deleted Scenes (11 min) HD
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
Ma (2019) is a solid psycho-thriller, I don't think it will end up having the longevity of a few of the psycho-bitch classics I mentioned in this review, but it's a solid demented thriller that's plenty entertaining, and it's not afraid to go weird, and this one definitely goes weird towards the end!
