“Umma,” the latest horror film, unfortunately was an underwhelming experience despite its promising premise. This film marks the directorial debut for Iris Shim, with “Spider-man” Director Sam Raimi taking on the producer position. 

The film stars Sandra Oh as Amanda, who lives on a farm with her daughter without the use of technology. Things begin to take a turn when the remains of her deceased mother arrive on her doorstep.

The film is one of the few recent films that cover the terrors of generational family trauma, the most recent being Disney Pixar’s “Turning Red.” While the idea sounds engaging, the film doesn’t delve into it and instead relies upon tired and worn out jump scares that many horror films have done throughout the years.

The film also suffers from poor dialogue, with its construction taking away moments that would have felt unnerving. However, Oh ultimately gave the best performance she could with what she was provided.

The film, coming to a relatively short 84 minute runtime, could have done more for its premise if it was slightly longer. Many moments feel choppily edited and like certain scenes were left out. It felt as if the film had to cram in whatever they can in order to get the film finished, and it takes away what could have been a better experience. 

Generational trauma is starting to show up more in films. It is a topic that needs to be talked about more for viewers who do not know what it’s like to suffer from it. This film had the potential to take this topic to a terrifying level, but it unfortunately misses the mark.