Taglines: Get home safe.
The story follows Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer), a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie (Diana Silvers), a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own.
She offers the kids the chance to avoid drinking and driving by hanging out in the basement of her own. But there are some house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober. Don’t curse. Never go upstairs. And call her “Ma.” But as Ma’s hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma’s place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on earth.”
Ma is a 2019 American psychological horror film produced, co-written and directed by Tate Taylor. It stars Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, and Luke Evans, and follows a group of teenagers who befriend a lonely middle-aged woman. She lets them party in her basement, and they end up being terrorized by her. The film was produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions company, along with Tate Taylor and John Norris.
Initially, Ma came together as a result of Taylor’s desire to direct a film about “something fucked up” and Spencer’s desire to break away from the kinds of roles she, and black women in general, usually get to play. Taylor and Spencer are longtime friends, having worked together in films such as The Help and Get on Up. Later, in 2018, Taylor and Blumhouse Productions began developing the film, with Taylor directing, Landes writing, Blum producing and Spencer starring it. Principal photography on the film started in February 2018 and wrapped in March 2018, in Mississippi, with parts shot in Natchez.
Ma was released in the United States on May 31, 2019, by Universal Pictures. It has grossed $61.6 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Spencer’s performance but criticized the teenage characters and said the film did not take full advantage of its premise.
Ma (2019)
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Starring: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Luke Evans, McKaley Miller, Missi Pyle, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown, Katira Banks, Skyler Joy, Diana Silvers
Screenplay by: Scotty Landes, Tate Taylor
Production Design by: Marc Fisichella
Cinematography by: Christina Voros
Film Editing by: Lucy Donaldson, Jin Lee
Costume Design by: Megan Coates
Set Decoration by: Carmen Navis, Angela Gail Schroeder
Music by: Gregory Tripi
MPAA Rating: R for violent / disturbing material, language throughout, sexual content, and for teen drug and alcohol use.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: May 31, 2019
Visits: 41
