Cinema has had plenty of maternal horror-thrillers over the years – from Bong Joon Ho’sMother and Darren Aronofsky’smother!, to Andy Muschietti’sMama. Now, make way for Umma, a Korean-American horror flick that conjures all kinds of inter-generational terrors for Sandra Oh. The star of Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve (also soon to be heard in Pixar’sTurning Red) is taking centre stage in the debut feature from writer-director Iris K. Shim, produced by Sam Raimi – and the first trailer has arrived.
Spooky stuff. The film stars Oh as Amanda, a mother who lives a tech-lite life with her daughter (Fivel Stewart) on an American farm. But when her own estranged mother’s ashes arrive from Korea, Amanda is haunted by vengeful spectres of her Umma (Korean for ‘mother’) – and faces the fear that she might be about to repeat harmful familial cycles with her own daughter. All that, and there are ominous bees aplenty, unsettling visions, and a mythical multiple-tailed beastie whose mouth is covered in blood.
It’s a strong idea for a horror movie – and given Oh’s considerable talents, hopefully a strong vehicle for her as a leading actor. There’s not long to wait to find out – Umma hits US cinemas on 18 March, and arrives in the UK one week later on 25 March.