User reviews

Umma can be an interesting study of motherhood and generational trauma with a dash of a touch of folk horror. After a promising start, alas Iris K. Shim is unable to maintain the tension or the emotional aspect it's direly in need throughout the rest of the film. In the end, it presented a rather dull, if not bland, third act.

What happened? The first half of the movie was so solid, interesting story, good acting, beautiful cinematography, great chemistry between the two leads, then the second the daughter came out of the basement and questioned her mother, the dialogue became very clunky and unnatural.

We were then confronted with some very unscary CGI and all the promise the film once held just fizzled away.

There was definitely a much better film in here somewhere. Such a shame.

I didn't like it. It did have atmosphere and the camera work was decent. But this film is a jump scare film and not a well-crafted elevated horror story. I don't like horror films that are a lot of jump scares stringed together without that good backstory. The tension doesn't crescendo like I would have loved. It's just a lot of look-behind-you-and-boo!

The mask, the uncle, and the suitcase are pretty dumb and serves no purpose. Kinda hard to take serious a ghost that travels overseas in an old suitcase. The film could have been better if the director spent screen time drawing out the past between Amanda and her mother, they could have gently ratchetted the sinister tension between both characters. In fact, my favorite scene is when Amanda and her mother's ghost have a 5-minute scene talking to each other about how the mother felt abandoned and the mother's resentment.

But two hours of hide and seek boo! Scenes and a teenager that just wants to fit in and be normal just didn't do it for me.

I love Sandra Oh, and I love Korean horror films. I thought that this was going to be a match made in heaven, but honestly calling it a horror movie is almost offensive.

Umma is predictable, boring more times than not, and all around just a lame attempt at something that could be amazing.

This ended up being a bland "horror" movie. My emphasis on horror is due to it not being what I consider horror but I watch a lot of horror and may be desensitized. For me, this was a pass the time movie.

I hadn't even heard about the 2022 horror drama mystery "Umma" prior to sitting down to watch it. But I have to say that I found the movie's cover/poster to be interesting, and the synopsis was adequate. But of course with it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I had to watch it.

Writer and director Iris K. Shim managed to put together an adequate enough storyline and script for "Umma". It wasn't a particularly outstanding or overly memorable movie experience though. Sure, it was watchable, and it was a nice mixture of Korean and Western cultures.

For a horror movie then I found "Umma" to be somewhat stale and slow paced. It wasn't particularly scary, and for a life-long horror fan, then "Umma" was essentially just a stroll in the park. "Umma" is focusing more of the drama aspects of the story than it does the horror.

Visually then you are not in for anything grand or impressive. But then again, "Umma" is not a movie that is particularly reliant on special effects and CGI. It had a little bit of special effects, of course, and it looked adequate enough. But you're not in for a spectacular show of special effects here.

Now, I am not really a fan of Sandra Oh, but she performed well enough in the movie. I wasn't familiar with actress Fivel Stewart, but she put on a great performance in the movie alongside the likes of Sandra Oh and Dermot Mulroney.

Sure, "Umma" was watchable and enjoyable enough for a single viewing. But that was essentially also it. This is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that is at the top of movies that I would recommend you sit down to watch if you enjoy horror movies.

My rating of "Umma" lands on a somewhat generic five out of ten stars.

Honestly, a bad film. In horror most of the times "less is more" and this film is imcredibly annoying in how it wants to do something every 30 seconds. It can be the sound effects, it can be something in the mirror, something behind you, some dream, some internal voice, a jumpscare...every 30 seconds and I'm not lying. This turns out to have the precisely opposite effect.

It wants to say a lot of things and it passes those messages even through some clunky dialogue that doesn't feel natural at all. One or two good enough scenes but in general a huge disappointment (I would say the opening credits are the best thing). Really unispiring ending and full of clichés.

Umma

A reasonable jump scare horror movie, they held back on the horror when they should have gone all out so that's a shame, what it could have been!

Sandra Oh held our attention as did the daughter, the acting was good overall but it was all quite derivative and predictable.

This is a weak 6 outta 10 from me, meaning it whiled an evening away and was what it was!

It seems like the film's modus operandi was to make statements on childrearing. Specifically made for those parents who are overbearingly conservative about their children, so much so that they even refuse to listen to their kids' wishes, let alone lend an ear to what other people say.

As creators, they tried to put their message out in the open, an important one as well and to tell you the truth, I see nothing wrong in that. However, I also do believe that as a filmmaker you bear certain responsibilities, some obligations one of which is to stay loyal to the genre or the type of content you are making.

"Umma" was meant to be a Horror right? In any case that was the impression, I've got from the trailers! If you wanna have social commentary, and symbolic insinuations in your film that's fine but you got to stick to your promise first! At the end of the day, What do people expect from a Horror feature? All they want is to be terrified, to get the chills. So if that particular wish remains unattended, I don't see why should it be marketed as horror in the first place then!

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. What an oddly beautiful tale of hereditary guilt, regret and transmitted behavior. This is where horror has the opportunity to evolve, to represent something more and I feel like it perfectly balanced the metaphor with the reality of the film. It's very tight, a whopping 5 significant characters in the movie, all pretty much shot in two locales. It feels like it's missing just that little something extra to boost it up into proper greatness, but I'm quite pleased with calling it very good.

Might not be a buy for most, but would definitely check it out.

Imho you'd enjoy it more if you come to watch this movie with the mindset of it being a drama with just a sprinkle of PG13 horror thrown in rather than expecting a full on horror film. Watching the trailer was enough to inform me that this won't be scary at all & reading the reviews kinda justified it. I watched it with this knowledge & it didn't disappoint. See it if you like Sandra Oh or some mother-daughter drama, but skip it if your main reason to watch is to get scared cause it's really not scary at all.

UMMA explores the complexities of mothers and daughters, toxic relationships, the fear of abandonment, and inherited trauma. There are light spoilers ahead. Written and directed by Iris Shim, with Sam Raimi producing, the film follows Amanda (Sandra Oh), a Korean immigrant and single mother, who lives on a secluded farm with her daughter Chrissy "Chris" (Fivel Stewart). They are almost completely isolated from the outside world, keeping bees and selling honey. Amanda has homeschooled and sheltered Chris for most of her life in a futile attempt to keep her close. The two share an intense bond, that for Amanda stems from deep-rooted trauma.

As a child, Amanda was abused by her mother, locked in a room, and punished with electrified wires for running away or misbehaving. When Chrissy was an infant, fearful of becoming her mother and repeating abusive habits, Amanda shut off the electrical box under her house. Determined to prevent the atrocities she suffered from happening to Chris, she also concocts a lie about a sensitivity to electronics to ensure they can live an electricity-free life.

Amanda has suppressed her childhood trauma. Her uncle arrives from Korea, to deliver her Umma's (Korean for mother) ashes in the hopes that she will perform a Jesa ceremony to put her mother's soul to rest. Her uncle explains that Amanda's mother cried out for her as she died, triggering Amanda's fear and anxiety response to her trauma. She hears echoes of the abuse she suffered, her mother's voice whispering in her ear, visions of her mother's ghost, and waking nightmares. I believe that the ghost of her mother and the haunting aren't reality, but a psychological manifestation causing delirium and manic delusions.

Amanda is suffering from post-traumatic stress that is compounded by the discovery that Chris wants to leave for college. Amanda fears that she will be abandoned which only amplifies her desire to keep Chris close, even if it means fracturing their bond. She projects her fear onto their relationship, and the more she fights against the dissolution of their co-dependency, the more toxic their relationship becomes. This in turn mirrors Amanda's relationship with her mother, and causes her acute distress. It isn't difficult to relate to having a complicated and dysfunctional relationship with your mother. Chris needs to assert her independence, breaking free from the claustrophobic isolation of the farm, feeling othered, and her mother's somewhat suffocating love. Moving away to attend college is a logical way to escape her situation and an attempt to do so without hurting her mother's feelings.

UMMA doesn't fail to communicate any of its core themes, but they are muddied by the film's lack of tension, and poorly executed jump scares. There's a little too much going on with the way the haunting is represented, which often broke my ability to immerse myself in the narrative. Certain cliches and cultural stereotypes, including the appearance of a Kitsune or Gumiho were perplexing at best. In Korean mythology, the nine-tailed fox is an evil seducer of men, whereas, in Japanese folklore, it is an evil fox with paranormal abilities that can shapeshift into human form. The fox seems meant to symbolize Umma (MeeWha Alana Lee) but is a poor addition to the film's third act. Oh delivers a stunning performance as the tormented Amanda, her portrayal of anguish and fear is easily believed, while the other performances leave much to be desired.

While the supernatural horror film is a mediocre missed opportunity, its themes make it worth a single viewing. Audiences shouldn't expect a film that will instill terror, but one that uses its horror elements to explore putting what haunts you to rest.

I was the only person in the theater and that should tell you something. It was a 1:30pm showing on a Friday but still ... The movie goes downhill right after the first scene and never gains momentum after that. The rest of it is a flashback to what had occurred years earlier but it never comes back to explain what happened in that first scene. Sandra Oh was Sandra Oh but she did not have much to work with here.

This movie was like an extended version of the Progressive Insurance commercials about growing up to be your parent (because this is about the 'mother'). There was maybe 1 scary moment in the entire movie.

The movie focused more on the living mother/daughter dynamic and a culture that was being ignored until it was forced upon them. Truly a waste of time and money.

There is little intriguing about the worn out premise, of the script, but there are still a few things to enjoy in this psychological melodrama. Sandra Oh gives a sturdy performance as the phobic isolationist on her California farm, and Dylan McDermott is a reliable co star. The traditional hanboks are beautiful.

But then there are the plot holes. What clingy Korean mother goes back to her country when he daughter is in the United States? How did a woman get married and have a child while never being around eléctricity? How did she go to school, afford a farm and learn to produce honey without electricity? Wouldn't Child Protective Services show up for a kid that has never ridden in a car?

Suspend all logic and you might enjoy the rest of the movie.

Dr. Cristina Yang retired and became a bee keeper.

A new horror produced by Sam Raimi of all people and starred Sandra Oh.

The only good part was some of the creepy scenes, which could be effective at times.

The first thing is the dialogues. Oh man that was corny and weird as heck. Even worse most of the cringy dialogues were from Oh's character.

There's nothing unique to the story. Really 95% was buildup without much happening. I was quite bored and couldn't wait for the story to end. Of course it's predictable.

Overall, it's bad. 4-4.5/10.

Umma has an interesting plot and a nice cast...it really should of been a decent horror flick...but sadly, it wasn't.

My biggest gripe is the darkness. I understand it's a 'horror'...and I kinda like how the filmmakers introduced the 'scared of electricity' element, which gives them a reason to not have lights on...but holy mackerel, there are parts where the screen is near pitch black! I mean 'so dark that you can barely see what's going on'. What's the point? It really spoils a film when you don't even know what you're looking at. I turned all the picture parameters up by 20...and still could barely see anything. So this meant some parts of the film are a mystery to me, due to not being able to see what was going on. If it wasn't for the sound, I could of sworn my TV was switched off! Fail!

Besides the darkness issue, the film is slow and repetitive. You'll probably struggle to give it your full attention from start to end.

Like some other reviewers have said, it's more of a drama, than a horror. That's a pet peeve of mine - films that use the term 'horror' to boost numbers. They should realise that this has a negative effect...because when horror lovers, watch a 'horror' film, but don't get horror, it p*sses us off!

Also, there's a 'girl wants to go to college' subplot...it's so rushed and frantic, that it barely makes any difference to anything.

I think the same cast and the same storyline has the potential to be an epic horror film, just with a different director. This almost looked like a made for TV joint.

Honestly, a bad film. In horror most of the times "less is more" and this film is imcredibly annoying in how it wants to do something every 30 seconds. It can be the sound effects, it can be something in the mirror, something behind you, some dream, some internal voice, a jumpscare...every 30 seconds and I'm not lying. This turns out to have the precisely opposite effect.

It wants to say a lot of things and it passes those messages even through some clunky dialogue that doesn't feel natural at all. One or two good enough scenes but in general a huge disappointment (I would say the opening credits are the best thing). Really unispired ending and full of clichés.

Not sure what others are looking for out of this film, but during my viewing the needle moved as high as an 8, but ultimately landed on 6 when it was all said and done.

It's not a bad film at all.

Is it scary?

Not really. But most horror films these days are not what I would define as terrifying. It's PG-13, but that has nothing to do with effectiveness of a psychological thriller.

This is very much a movie about the matriarchy. It's about mothers and daughters. It's about generational differences.

I know there are horror fans checking out as they read this, saying out loud, Nope, Nope. Not gonna do this one.

I think that would be a mistake. I wanted to like this film more than I did. And I didn't dislike it. Like most modern horror films, it just didn't have it.

It does have Sandra Oh. Whom I adore. I've never watched one second of Grey's Anatomy, but I've held this deep admiration for Oh since seeing her career-defining performance in one of my all-time favorite films, Sideways.

Here, she is excellent. As a guilt-ridden single mother who has created a peaceful, albeit secluded life as a beekeeper with her young daughter, played by the incredible Fivel Stewart.

She and her daughter spend their time mostly on the gorgeous expanse of their farmhouse property. Jarring honey, reading books, homeschooling, and literally burning the daylight.

You see, due to childhood trauma suffered from her mother, Sandra Oh's character has a fear of electricity. This knowledge is given out in the opening, so no spoilers here.

The small family of mother and daughter live by natural light during the day, and lanterns at night.

Their only social outlet seems to be in the form of Dermot Mulroney (another Alexander Payne fave-About Schmidt!) who plays Danny, and he runs the nearby country store and sells the family's jarred honey with the help of his niece, River (the always spectacular Odeya Rush!) At this point in the film, you might have questions such as I. Such as, what is the history of Danny and Amanda? It seems they have known each other for quite some time. Their professional arrangement is on full display now, but was there ever anything else between them, even briefly? At one point I wondered if he might be the father of Amanda's daughter, but then discounted the thought on my own as the film progressed. And then also, being so isolated. Wouldn't their honey business thrive at a local farmer's market or something? Couldn't they get out and do that? But then, maybe that whole electricity angle stops that from occurring in their history? I don't know.

Moving on, other than just the two of them, mother and daughter on that massive farm property, life looks pretty sweet. Gorgeous views. Low electricity bill. Chickens roaming around, pecking about.

It's all good, until a long lost uncle from Korea appears uninvited with the unexpected and even more uninvited remains of Amanda's estranged Umma, which translates to Mother.

It is explained that basically the longer her remains are kept in the suitcase, the worse things will get.

Well, you would think Amanda would just get to digging at that point. Why she doesn't is never really explained. There would be no movie, I guess is why.

There are some good scenes in this movie. All of the characters are likable. It's an interesting story. It is well acted and nicely directed. If there's anything to discover here it's the fantastic work of the writer/director, Iris K. Shim, and actress Fivel Stewart. Both show great promises of bright futures in the film industry.

The film runs a quick hour and twenty-three minutes. There are worse things you could do with your time. Just don't tell your Umma about it.

The poster looks like horror, the story looks like horror, but the movie isn't horror. At least not the kind that gives you thrills. For that the special effects are or non existant or mediocre at best. The soundtrack, the one thing that could make any horror story better, was just very basic. I watched Umma because of Sandra Oh, but I've seen much better with her. The acting wasn't bad, the story just a bit too boring, not good enough if you're looking for a horror movie you will remember.

The first part of the movie was good, creepy then it just went downhill. It felt like they ran out of money and had to wrap it up quickly which led to bad acting and rushed scenes.