Ma (2019)

Directed by Tate Taylor. Starring Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Luke Evans, Dante Brown, Missi Pyle, Tanyell Waivers, Dominic Burgess, Allison Janney. [R]

Small town teens need a place to party and an adult that can get them the materials to do so; enter Sue Ann (Spencer), aka “Ma,” who lets the kids go crazy in her basement with booze by the case full, but something is quite clearly off about this bipolar enabler. Has all the setup for a truly unhinged, carnage-and-craziness-heavy thriller, with Spencer ready and willing to go full nutso, but aside from a few diabolically enjoyable moments (did anyone get that license number?), the film stays in first and second gear too often, resulting in a depressingly feckless finale. Ma’s mood swings earn far more chuckles than chills, but they’re still fun; a mostly anemic supporting cast is far less so (Janney is completely wasted in a throwaway role—did most of her scenes end up on the cutting room floor?). Deserves credit for a fairly original death involving a blood transfusion, but the payoff is muted—something of a metaphor for the film as a whole.

47/100