Misery Meets Carrie with Octavia Spencer in MA

As a kid, I remember being terrified watching Carrie.  As a young adult, mortified watching Misery.  As a woman, who clearly doesn’t embrace horror for fear my electric bill will never be the same, I can honestly report that MA gave me life!

As someone who was often the new kid in town and in school, making and finding a corp group of friends was challenging.  Luckily for Maggie (Diana Silvers), her corp group finds her and that’s when things get real interesting.  Being underage and desiring a wild night with alcohol is never a good combination.  Not possessing a fake ID presents its certain set of obstacles as well, unless you can convince an unsuspecting adult to nab the goodies for you.  Enter SueAnn, a seemingly sweet veterinary nurse, who in an attempt to keep the kids safe from drinking and driving invites them to party in the basement of her home.

What we discover is that Sue Ann’s kindness comes with a price tag a lot higher than a few bottles booze.  Her ulterior motives are rooted in an attempt to rewrite her high school history, revenge and pure loneliness.  Octavia Spencer is known for such iconic films like Hidden Figures, The Shape of Water and her Oscar-winning performance as Minny in ‘The Help.’  As MA, she is pure campy comedy at its best mixed with a little creep-a-zoid factor.  Reuniting with ‘The Help’ director (Tate Taylor) to create a suspenseful, shock value thriller that melts elements Annie Wilkes (Misery) and the Mom from Carrie into one delicious package worked for me to the point it had me talking back to the screen.  Tate wonderfully infuses dark humor with images like MA slathering white paint over Darrell’s face (Dante Brown) while commenting, “there’s only room for one of us” or using dog collars instead of rope for her captors to name a few.

Diana Silvers (Maggie) is on a roll.  With Booksmart and this flick, she is well on her way to becoming the next big thing.  Her energy and presence is very reminiscent of a young Anne Hathaway and Julia Roberts.  Juliette Lewis (Erica) is giving me a no-nonsense Mom with dialogue I usually hear from people of color on screen.  It was refreshing to actually she someone who is not ethnic being a little saucy and sassy with her kid.  She’s raw, real, acerbic, yet loving in one fell swoop and simply wonderful.

MA doesn’t take itself too seriously and for those who love thrillers, you will definitely have a great time.  Produced by Universal Pictures, MA hit theaters TODAY!