The more horror movies I watch, the more I realize how much I really like Asian horror movies. Umma may have been made in the United States but it was both written and directed by a Korean-American woman. Hopefully, it will be on the same level as last year’s The Medium from Thailand.
Amanda (Sandra Oh) lives on a rural farm, raising bees and chickens with her teenaged daughter Chrissy (Fivel Stewart). Since Amanda gets sick when there are electronics around her, the pair live without modern technology. One day, Amanda’s uncle (Tom Yi) shows up at the farm to inform Amanda that her mother (MeeWha Alana Lee) has died. Slowly, Amanda relives the traumatic events of her childhood, brought upon by her own mother, her Umma. Can Amanda overcome her trauma to become a good mother to Chrissy or will she be fated to transform into her Umma?
Despite the fact that there are quite a few scenes that are way too dark and a few scenes that have little explanation, I found Umma entertaining. I don’t think it was quite as scary as some of the other Asian horror movies I have watched but the feelings of a child constantly disappointing an abusive mother came through clearly. As I am not of Asian descent, I can’t quite connect with those feelings or any of the abuse that comes from them, though I do see it depicted a lot in Asian media. I can understand it, even if I can’t relate. It does make me feel bad for Amanda and I hope that she’ll be able to seek therapy to overcome her past.
I think that, if you consume a fair amount of Asian media or are actually of Asian descent yourself, you might enjoy Umma. However, if you aren’t familiar with Asian culture, I’m not sure how the movie will come across for you. There are explanations as to why Umma is so terrible to Amanda but without that background of understanding Asian family dynamics, even a little bit, it might not be enough of an explanation to understand why it’s happening. Either way, Sandra Oh is a fantastic actress. If you have no other reason to watch the movie, watch it for her. You won’t be disappointed there.