Ma (2019)

After directing the James Brown biopic Get On Up (2014) and the mystery The Girl on the Train (2016), Tate Taylor whipped out his big flick Ma (2019), not to be confused with the drama Ma (2017) about the Virgin Mary. This psychological horror pic reunites the filmmaker with Octavia Spencer since the two worked together on The Help (2011), for which she received an Oscar for playing an endeared character. This time around, the sweet actress goes against type as the movie’s villain Sue Ann “Ma” Ellington. The middle-aged woman befriends teenagers Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Chaz (Gianni Paolo), Darrell (Dante Brown), and Haley (McKaley Miller). Sue Ann lets them party at her place. But after a little while, the teens begin to feel a sense of uneasiness. Of course, their concerns are confirmed when Ma goes off the deep end! Mr. Paolo makes us weak in the knees since he looks far too buff to be a teen. Nevertheless, we can’t help but enjoy the scene where Ma points a gun at him and makes him strip. Gianni gets all the way naked but covers his crotch with his hands so we only get to admire his abs and ass. Perhaps that’s why the movie was nominated for Best Thriller at the Saturn Awards. If that’s not thrilling enough, Ma ties Ben Hawkins (Luke Evans) up in bed. She grabs his (prosthetic) penis and threatens to cut it off. Needless to say, the scene will leave your spine and pants tingling!