Umma

Umma follows Amanda, a Korean American mother who lives with her teenage daughter, Chris, on a quiet farm in the United States. Amanda keeps bees, avoids electricity, and teaches Chris at home, but she becomes upset when Chris wants to leave for college. Amanda’s uncle arrives from Korea with the ashes of Amanda’s cruel and distant mother. The visit awakens painful memories and a ghost that makes Amanda fear she will hurt Chris in the same way. The film uses a slow, uneasy horror style built around family fear, old wounds, and the struggle to break a harmful pattern.

The film makes Korean American identity and women-led family conflict visible to the audience. Amanda has rejected her family name and Korean customs, while the story treats her return to those customs as an important step toward understanding her mother and raising Chris differently. The movie gives repeated attention to immigration, family duty, cultural loss, and the pain passed from one generation to the next. These ideas are central to the story, but the film presents them through family drama and Korean spiritual traditions rather than speeches about current politics, race, or social movements.