Ma | 2019 | R | – 6.7.8

Why is “Ma” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violent/disturbing material, language throughout, sexual content, and for teen drug and alcohol use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of scenes of oral sex, references to oral sex, kissing and petting, and male genitals and cleavage; several violent scenes including a pedestrian struck by a car, gunshot wounds, burns, and a house fire and stabbings resulting in blood and death; many scenes of underage drinking, drug use and being drugged, and nearly 40 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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A woman (Juliette Lewis) returns home to her small town with her teenage daughter (Diana Silvers) and soon discovers that the daughter and her friends are being hosted at parties in an old classmate’s (Octavia Spencer) basement. When the teens start feeling uncomfortable with the woman’s actions, they try to break free of her, with unwelcome consequences. Also with McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown, Tanyell Waivers, Missi Pyle and Allison Janney. Directed by Tate Taylor. [Running Time: 1:39]

Ma SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A man awakens, after having been drugged, tied into a bed and nude (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details) and we see a towel draped over his genitals (his bare chest, abdomen and legs to the upper thighs are seen); a woman talks to him and he pleads with her when she places a large knife to his penis (we see her holding his penis in her hand).
► A woman is shown with her head in a man’s lap in a car and we see rhythmic movement (oral sex is implied). A teen girl and a teen boy meet in a dark janitor’s closet and we hear the boy moaning (oral sex is implied). A clothed teen boy and teen girl kiss while lying on a sofa and he lies on top of her moving rhythmically (they are interrupted).
► Several teen couples kiss at a party. A teen boy and a teen girl kiss and a woman watches them. A teen boy and a teen girl kiss. A teen girl kisses another teen girl and she pulls away startled. A woman hugs a teen boy and he kisses her passionately. A woman dances with a teen boy and caresses his face. A woman lies next to a dead man on a bed and caresses his chest. Teens dance in several party scenes.
► A woman holds a gun on a teen boy and forces him to undress; we see his bare chest, abdomen, back, buttocks and legs (he holds his hands over his genitals). A woman wears a uniform (a halter vest and shorts) at a casino that reveals deep cleavage, bare shoulders and back and legs to the upper thighs. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage and her bare lower back when she bends over. A teen girl wears a short skirt that reveals bare legs to the upper thighs. A teen girl wears a top that reveals cleavage and bare abdomen. A teen girl wakes up in bed wearing a T-shirt and underwear (we see her bare legs to the hips). A woman wears a low-cut sweater that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage.
► A teen girl instructs another teen girl on how to perform oral sex. A teen boy makes a crude sexual remark about a woman and a teen boy. A teen girl tells another teen girl that she has nice buttocks and then says, “I’m not a lesbian.” Two women talk about their marriages ending. A woman tells a teen girl to be careful and that she wouldn’t want to get pregnant.

Ma VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 - A woman in a pick-up truck swerves on the road and hits a woman jogging (we see the woman thrown and lying motionless in a pool of blood on her face and head and the road. A woman shoots a man twice in the chest and we see blood smear on the ground after she drags him into her house. A woman stabs a teen boy in the abdomen (we see blood on the blade and his shirt). A woman is stabbed in the back and we see blood on her hand.
► A woman is shown unconscious or dead in a dog crate and we see blood on her face and clothing. A dead man is shown on a bed that is soaked with blood. A man awakens, after having been drugged, tied into a bed and nude (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details); a woman talks to him and he pleads with her when she places a large knife to his penis, starts an IV of blood running into his arm and slashes his other wrist (we see blood spray). A woman stitches a teen girl's lips closed (we see the needle passing through her lips and blood on her mouth). A woman cuts a teen boy's T-shirt open and places a hot iron on his bare abdomen (we see the bloody imprint of the iron). A woman hits a teen girl in the back of the head with an iron (she falls unconscious). A teen girl hits a woman on the head with a skillet and the woman falls down the stairs.
► A woman holds a gun on a teen boy and tells him to undress; he does (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details), she laughs and puts the gun down saying that it doesn't even work. Several teens are shown unconscious and with dog collars on their necks and leashes attached to joists.
► Police arrive at a secluded place to find teens smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol; they try to run but are stopped and questioned briefly. Two teen girls break into a house through a window and creep through looking for items they believe were stolen from them; they are startled by another teen in the house and panic when the homeowner returns (they get out undetected). A teen girl drinks two shots at a party and becomes dizzy; she leans on a teen boy's shoulder and we see her wake up in bed the next day, unclear about what happened. A fire breaks out and several people are locked in a basement as it fills with smoke (they get out).
► A group of teenagers are gathered around outside a closet as a teen boy and a teen girl emerge and they laugh at the girl (she runs away humiliated). A teen boy throws a beverage cup at a woman's car window (it splatters on the window) and she cries and becomes upset. A woman (she appears drunk) talks to another woman in an insulting manner and she becomes loud and is escorted out of the area by a security guard. Teens in a van are startled when a woman pounds on the side window.
► A woman tells a teen girl, "I will slit your throat." A woman yells at another woman in a nail salon and storms out. A woman yells at another woman a few times for not doing her job. A man becomes angry and quizzes a woman about why his son has been spending time at her house. Two women argue over one of the women hosting parties for teenagers in her home. A teen girl messages others in a group telling them to block a woman and that she is crazy. A teen girl tells a woman, "You need a man," and she replies, "You need to watch your mouth." A woman asks teens to come to her house for a party and becomes angry when they decline. Teenagers ask adults to buy them alcohol outside a liquor store and one woman agrees. A woman asks teenagers if they want to spend the night in jail after getting caught drinking. A teen girl pretends to pass out at parties so that she won't have to drink. We hear that a woman died of cancer. A woman says that she has pancreatic cancer and that the drugs change her behavior. A teen boy says of another teen boy, "It looks like he's going to vomit." A woman tells teens, "Don't spit on my floors." A teen boy says, "I'm gonna puke," after drinking too much (he does not). A teen girl says, "If I do more than one [shots] I'll be sick."
► A dog whimpers and when a teen girl investigates we see the dog's paw bloodied (he improves and seems fine later). We see teens in a biology class dissecting a young pig (we see tissue briefly). An animal lies unconscious on a vet table and a woman shaves its fur preparing for a procedure. A woman angrily shoves a goat into a trailer behind a veterinary clinic. We see a mounted deer head in a woman's basement.
► A teen girl uses a toilet and we hear the flush. A teen girl is seated on a toilet (we do not hear anything and we see no nudity). A woman paints an African-American teen's face white. Several flashback scenes show a teen girl being humiliated by other teens.

Ma LANGUAGE 8

 - About 39 F-words and its derivatives, 3 obscene hand gestures, 3 sexual references, 25 scatological terms, 17 anatomical terms, 23 mild obscenities, name-calling (modern babes, fluff buddy, weird, loser, gay, crazy, lame, old lady, dumb, super gay, love birds, racist, old, jealous, ungrateful, liar, nasty, sick, pathetic, sad), exclamations (get lost, shut-up, heck, sad, oh shoot), 22 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Thank God, Oh God, God Knows, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

Ma SUBSTANCE USE

 - A teen smokes a marijuana cigarette in a secluded place, a teen boy smokes a marijuana cigarette in a van, when police arrive at a secluded place a teen boy says that he will get rid of weed, a woman injects a teen girl with a drug in a few scenes, a woman gives a teen girl capsules to swallow in a few scenes, a man is injected in the neck with a hypodermic of Diazepam and he collapses, teens are drugged and are shown unconscious, a teen is injected in the neck with a hypodermic of Diazepam and falls unconscious, and a teen girl smokes marijuana from a pipe and coughs. Teenagers drink liquor in a secluded place, a teen girl tells another teen girl that they are going to drive around and get drunk, teenagers ask adults to buy them alcohol outside a liquor store and one woman agrees, a teen girl pretends to pass out at parties so that she won't have to drink, teens drink shots of liquor at a party, people drink in a bar, and a woman appears drunk in a casino bar. Teenagers vape tobacco in several scenes.

Ma DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - Life choices, relocating, fitting in, underage drinking, drinking and driving, revenge, humiliation, parenting, drugging people.

Ma MESSAGE

 - Be careful who you drink with.