Umma, 2022
This film is an American supernatural horror movie that is directed and written by Iris Shim. The movie followed Amanda (Oh), the single mom who dwells with her daughter over the isolated farm that is being haunted by the mother’s ghost.
Cast Lists
Sandra Oh acted as Amanda
Fivel Stewart acted as Chrissy
MeeWha Alana Lee acted as Umma / Amanda’s Mom
Odeya Rush acted as River
Tom Yi acted as Amanda’s Uncle
Dermot Mulroney acted as Danny
Plot
The Korean immigrant Amanda together with Chrissy “Amani” her homeschooled daughter, lived on the rural farm, raising chickens, raising bees, sell honey, and live without the modern technology since Amanda had an “allergic reaction” with electricity and electronics. She’s upset to discover that Chrissy wanted to leave their farm just to pursue her college education. When Amanda takes the cremated ashes of Umma, her recently deceased separated mom, in a suit bag from her uncle who is visiting her coming from Korea, she was confronted with memoirs of her abusive youth.
Umma was left alone to raise Amanda in the US, unable to talk English language and surrounded by the people that did not practice or understand her culture. It’s revealed that Amanda invented her electronics “allergy” after being shocked electrically for many periods by Umma as her punishment. When Amanda chopped her ties with Umma, she also cut her ties with her entire Korean heritage, including giving up the family name. When her uncle left her, he embarrassed Amanda for dumping her heritage and her own mother, and for not teaching Korean culture and language to Chrissy.
Right after the ashes came, a vicious spirit appeared and intent on claiming the body of Amanda for it. As a supernatural phenomena followed the coming of her mom’s ashes progress, from the visions of the tormented Korean spirits to the encounter with the kumiho that has been eating her chicks, Amanda suddenly became more fearful and paranoid that she’s gradually becoming also her own mother. The fear became realized when Umma winningly possesses her Chrissy when Amanda tried to bury Umma’s ashes.
Writer’s Opinion
The movie ended up to be a bland “horror” film. The emphasis on horror will be due to its not being what has been considered a horror, but this movie is just a pass time movie, as many may consider it.
For some viewers, the movie is not likeable. It did have the impression and the camera works were decent. But the movie is a jump fright and not a really well-crafted elevated terrifying story. Some may not like horror movies that have many jump scares stringed all together without that really good backstory. The tensions did not crescendo like the way you would have loved it.
The film is kinda hard to really take it seriously since a ghost travels overseas inside the old suitcase. The movie could have been better if their movie director spent some screen time in drawing out Amanda and her mom’s past life, they could have lightly ratcheted the sinister tensions in between the two characters.
