Iris K. Shim’s (The House of Suh) paranormal parentage parable, UMMA promises to deliver a sinister fusion of much-loved genre staples: a cabin in the woods, mythology, grief, and parenting issues when it releases this week.
Written and directed by Shim, and starring Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”), Fivel Stewart (Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, The Haunting of Sharon Tate), MeeWha Alana Lee, Tom Yi, Odeya Rush, and Dermot Mulroney, Umma, which is the Korean word for “mother”, takes audiences out to an isolated rural farm, where Amanda (Oh) and her daughter (Stewart) are leading a quiet life raising bees and living without modern technology. But when the remains of Amanda’s estranged mother arrive from Korea, she is suddenly overcome with an intense fear of becoming her own mother.
In anticipation of Umma releasing exclusively in cinemas today, 18 March, 2022, SCREAM sat down with Shim to discover the deep-seated genesis behind the film, its poignant messages and how approaching the project brought her closer to her own Umma.
Words: Howard Gorman
