Ma (4½ Stars)

This is a chilling horror film with a shocking role for Octavia Spencer as the title character. It's a shock for me to see her play an evil character. Has she done this before? Not in any of the films I've ever seen. I would say it's out of character for her, but she plays the role so well, as if she's been playing deranged villains all her career.

One small note before I talk about the film itself. In recent years many people have been saying that men and women who appear in a film together should be paid the same. That is utter stupidity. If anyone says that Octavia Spencer should be paid the same as the leading male actor in "Ma", Corey Fogelmanis, he has no understanding at all of the way that cinema works. She should earn ten to twenty times as much as him. The salary paid to actors is based on their star quality, not their gender. What matters is how famous an actor/actress is and how much appeal he/she has with cinema audiences. You can't expect the lead actor and actress in a film to be paid the same if one is famous and the other is an unknown.

Now let's get off my soapbox and discuss the film itself. The film begins with a 16-year-old girl called Maggie moving from San Diego to a small town. If its name is stated, I must have missed it. She's scared of the new school, but the other girls are quick to give her a chance. She's invited to a party. They just have to find someone to buy alcohol for them. Sue Ann Ellington (Octavia Spencer) volunteers. She also says they can use her house to party, as long as they remain in the basement and never go upstairs. It's a dream come true for the teenage clique.

The problem is that Sue Ann, who the kids call Ma, becomes obsessive. She reacts badly to anyone who doesn't want to accept her hospitality. She wants to be one of the kids, which she obviously isn't. As the film progresses we see that her obsessions aren't new, they've developed over the years.

That's all I can say without giving away spoilers. Octavia Spencer's acting is brilliant, as always. She says so much with her facial expressions. Apart from Luke Evans, none of the actors come anywhere near her level, but they're still adequate for the roles they play.

This is an excellent film, but I've deducted half a star for a disagreement I have with the plot, or rather the progression of the plot. Very early in the film we're given strong hints that something is wrong with Ma. I would have found it more satisfying if she'd been shown in a positive light until later in the film, maybe half way through.