Iris K. Shim is set to make her feature writing and directing debut with the supernatural horror film UMMA, which is being produced by Sam Raimi and has Sandra Oh attached to star.
Oh, who has been racking up awards and nominations for her work on the TV series Killing Eve (and previously racked up nominations for her work on Grey's Anatomy), will be playing a character named Amanda.
Amanda and her daughter live a quiet life on an American farm, but when the remains of her estranged mother arrive from Korea, Amanda becomes haunted by the fear of turning into her own mother.
UMMA is the Koren word for "mother".
Oh is joined in the cast of the film by Fivel Stewart, Dermot Mulroney, Odeya Rush, MeeWha Alana Lee, and Tom Yi.
Sony Pictures' Stage 6 Films hold the worldwide rights to UMMA. Raimi and Zainab Azizi are producing the film through Raimi Productions, as part of their development deal with Starlight Media. Starlight is co-financing the project with Stage 6. Starlight CEO Peter Luo serves as executive producer alongside Matt Black, Catchlight Studios' Jeanette Volturno and Marcei Brown, and TROLLHUNTER / THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE / SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK director Andre Ovredal.
Taking the helm of a film that's being produced by Sam Raimi isn't the first time Shim has worked with a legendary "master of horror"; fifteen years ago, she was Tobe Hooper's assistant on his film MORTUARY.