A seemingly friendly stranger buy's kids booze and then invites them over to party. That was the take away that I got when watching the trailer for Ma. However, there are so many layers on top of that it's unbelievable. I didn't expect a HUGE performance from Octavia that is so creepy and pleasantly surprising that I couldn't handle it! Spencer's character Sue Ann was a social outcast in high school and after a truly cruel joke that leaves her unstable she sees an opportunity to exact a little revenge, but more importantly be the cool kid she never was. At first, everything is fine as the students of this generation are
visiting "Ma's" frequently, but once they stop visiting so frequently Sue Ann starts to feel like the outcast she once was and this time, she's not going to go away quietly. Dianna Silvers is the main high school student who we've covered in Flesh&Blood from Hulu's Into The Dark Series delivers a better performance here as Maggie and we get a nice performance from Juliette Lewis as well as Maggie's mom.
This movie isn't scary in the supernatural sense or the startle scare variety. This movie is scary because I can absolutely see this kind of thing happening somewhere in the country. Octavia's performance and the supporting cast around her made this film feel very very believable and that made it so scary. There are so many choices in what to go see or watch on streaming as far as horror goes currently, I could see this movie getting kind of swept under the rug, but that is a shame because it's actually very well done!
Final Score 8.8/10