Beware of Ma! Industry talent seems increasingly attracted to horror pictures as of late. Ever since the rise of production company Blumhouse, which signed a first look deal with Universal Pictures in 2014, the genre’s teen midnight movie history has been increasingly overshadowed by a new era of sophistication, culminating with Jordan Peele’s, “Get Out” in 2017, which raked in a massive $250 million dollars and garnered 4 Oscar nominations, including a win for Best Original Screenplay for Peele.
‘Us’ Trailer: Jordan Peele’s New Nightmare Looks Even Crazier Than ‘Get Out’
In 2016, A24 released, “The Witch,” “It Comes At Night,” starring Joel Edgerton, followed in 2017, and last year Toni Collette received raging infernos of praise for her performance in “Hereditary.” At first glance, the director of “The Help,” Tate Taylor, tackling a horror project might seem to be a bit of odd career move, but add Academy Award winners Octavia Spencer and Allison Janney to the mix – plus a little bit of Luke Evans and some Juliette Lewis – and Blumhouse’s new spooky venture “Ma” fits a familiar pattern. Horror movies are growing up and artists want to play in the dark realm of the senses.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Oscar® winner Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann, a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town (Diana Silvers, Glass), 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 home. 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.
2018 Oscar Winner Allison Janney Is Heartbroken She Wasn’t Invited To Present This Year
“It was so serendipitous,” Taylor told Variety, “because Octavia and I are always complaining about being offered the same s—, and I read this and thought, ‘Oh f—,’” Taylor said. “This is so f—ing weird and awesome and I want Octavia to be the lead.”
Blumhouse founder Jason Blum is also thrilled to have landed Spencer in “Ma.” “[Octavia’s] an extraordinary actress at the top of her talents right now,” Blum said. “To have her in one of our movies is just a real confirmation of the value that we’ve built with our little system.”
We shall see if “Ma” ends up being a crowd pleaser like “The Help” or upsetting audience divider a la “mother!” “Ma will be released by Universal Pictures on May 31, 2019.
