Spoiler Warning: Umma (2022)

Many audience members go to film as a way to escape, to feel detached from the world and state they’re in, even if just for a short while. They need to feel as if there is something better out there. Some turn to film for a sense of connection and catharsis, as a way to see themselves, all they are, and all they’ve struggled with represented on screen. They need to feel as if they aren’t alone.

Even though there are plenty of positive and cheerful ways to represent viewers on screen, there have been more and more movies telling stories through an underlying trauma. While these films can be unnerving or tough to grapple with, they still show truths that audience members need to see. Some need to see it in order to better understand traumas that others might have, and some need to see themselves reflected in characters that continue fighting despite the trauma and even manage to heal.

The recent movie Umma released by Netflix, does a perfect job of revealing all of these aspects to audience members. On the surface, the film seems to be about a woman haunted by her malicious mother’s ghost, but going a little deeper presents a story about cultural differences, abuse, generational trauma, and the confusing intents of love.

Umma’s Foundation of Trauma

The story centers around Amanda, played by Sandra Oh, who lives alone in a rural house as a beekeeper with her daughter Chrissy (Fivel Stewart). They are completely isolated from people and, importantly, electricity, except for their friend who comes to take and sell Amanda’s honey. Amanda grew up in the house with her parents, who were Korean immigrants, but her mother – the titular Umma (MeeWha Alana Lee) – was extremely unhappy with the move. She had been a renowned dressmaker in Korea but was expected to be a perfect wife and move with her husband so he could get a better job. However, the culture shock and loneliness were too much for her.


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Dealing with struggles and trauma as many women had before her made her cruel. Her husband left her. Umma wanted her and Amanda to be together forever, needed Amanda to need her, and she became more and more manipulative and abusive. If Amanda tried to run away, then Umma would lock her in a closet and tell her how much it hurt her when she tried to leave. When she wanted Amanda to feel the same pain she did, she made her daughter hold exposed electrical wires. Eventually, Umma grew old and left the house, but Amanda stayed to raise her own daughter and promised never to be like her mother. But because so much trauma was instilled in her at such a young age, which she never properly dealt with, some of Umma still lingers in the house – even before Amanda received her remains from her family.

Passing Down the Impact

As the film continues on, we see how Umma’s ghost impacts Amanda. Amanda had never shared any of her trauma or childhood with her daughter, leaving Chrissy in the dark as she struggled, not realizing how she’s isolating her daughter and pushing her away. Amanda wants to protect her but doesn’t realize that, in her own way, she’s trapping her daughter there with her. Her fear of the outside world and the fear of becoming her mother stifles Chrissy’s life and makes Amanda upset when her daughter wants to go to college. She claims everything she does is for Chrissy and comes from a place of love, yet she’s doing more harm than good – much like her mother before her.

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Soon she starts to get angry at Chrissy for wanting to change things, for trying to learn about her mother’s past and the culture they came from, and for trying to make a life of her own. She can’t recognize it, but the trauma caused by Umma is a trauma she’s passing down to her daughter. She doesn’t realize her fear and love have combined into something twisted. As the bond with her daughter ebbs and flows, this film shows a realistic mother-daughter relationship amongst trauma and struggle.

Accepting the Past, Moving Forward

There are many different types of dysfunctional families, and not all of them can reconcile through their struggles. But Umma shows Amanda conquering her mother’s fears and being able to move on from the past to save her future with her daughter. In her darkest moment, when she feels like she’s lost Chrissy, her mother possesses her in order to keep them together forever and be the mother Chrissy truly needs. Chrissy is able to bring her mother back until she is taken by Umma, where they reconcile in a ghostly in-between world. Amanda recognizes her mother’s hardships but also tells her she was cruel. While she can’t fully forgive her, she wishes her mother peace in death.

After this, Amanda and Chrissy give Umma a proper resting place in front of the house where she can find a final rest, as their Korean tradition dictates. Even though Chrissy has a lot to learn about her mother and their Korean culture, this is the beginning of a new chapter for the two of them. They can connect on a truer level, Amanda can deal with her trauma in a healthier way, and Chrissy can go off to college to start her own life.

This Netflix movie beautifully illustrates the hardships of family, especially when there is trauma deeply rooted in multiple relationships. It reveals how difficult dealing with the past can be but also how it must be dealt with. Otherwise, it won’t only haunt you but will haunt the rest of your family too.