Umma: Sandra Oh’s horror twist

Between hardworking detectives and reformist departmental presidents, it certainly can’t be said that Sandra Oh is not trying hard to shake off the character of Cristina Yang from Grey’s Anatomy. His latest attempt even borders on horror: is called Umma, is directed by newcomer Iris K. Shim and produced by Sam Raimi. The film, which arrives in the United States on March 18, follows the story of Amanda, a single mother of Korean descent who tries to raise the best she can of her daughter on a farm in America.

When a man gives her her mother’s ashes, contained in a box that comes straight from Korea, for Amanda it will begin a horrifying journey that will lead her to come into contact with a supernatural world where it is logical to expect anything. Between screams, noises and endless anxiety, Umma focuses entirely on oriental folklore, on the most classic stylistic features of American horror and on a protagonist, Sandra Oh, who also demonstrates a truly impressive degree of adaptability to roles and stories in this round.

Umma, who in addition to Oh also stars Dermot Mulroney, Odeya Rush, MeeWha Alana Lee and Tom Yi, is a Korean word meaning “mother”, making clear from the beginning the threat of the film: the evil spirit of the mother of the protagonist that insinuates itself in her country life upsetting the balance in an irreparable way. It is easy to imagine what the consequences of this dark presence will be but, at this point, all that remains is to wait for the film to be released in Italy to have a more precise understanding of it.

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