Umma, which is the Korean word for “mother,” follows Amanda (Sandra Oh) and her daughter (Fivel Stewart) living a quiet life on an American farm. When the remains of her estranged mother arrive from Korea, Amanda becomes haunted by the fear of turning into her.
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Video Quality
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings Umma to Blu-Ray with a really striking 1080p video presentation in 2.39:1. Perhaps the most important aspect of a horror film such as this one is to maintain the illusion of the narrative, which this film achieves with black levels that are appropriately deep and inky with no discernible digital noise. There is nothing worse than being reminded you are watching a movie when banding or crush pops up, which is not the case here. The image is clean with the cool color palette rendered with precision. The flesh tones are natural with a magnificent amount of detail present in close-ups, especially. The presentation provides a significant amount of depth on display, especially in the interior shots. The production design and the fabrics of clothing provide crystal clear textural details. This is as solid of a presentation as any modern movie should provide on Blu-Ray.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray release boasts a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that expertly handles this mostly subdued film. While they are far from plentiful, this disc brings the pulse-pounding moments to life with a depth and clarity of sound that is staggering. As the characters roam from room to room, the sounds of creaking floors and other subtle effects flow out of your side and rear speakers. Each sound is precisely placed with perfect spatial awareness. The implementation of environmental effects such as wind and thunder come through in a natural way. There is a decent amount of activity in the low-end when the moment calls for it, but mostly it is used as texture for the story. Dialogue comes through clearly without getting muddied by the score or any sound effects. Sony has delivered a very capable track that should please horror fans.
Special Features
There are no special features provided on this disc.
Final Thoughts
Umma delivers a few decent spine-tingling moments and a terrific performance from Sandra Oh, but the welcome change in perspective does not make up for the general lack of terror. The film mostly fails to offer anything new or exciting in the haunting spirit genre, although the focus on character and generational trauma keeps things more dramatically interesting. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring an excellent A/V presentation and nothing in the way of special features. This film is not great, but fills the void well enough if you are looking for a generally eerie time.
Umma is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
