Screenings for critics held just 30 minutes before regular showings begin don’t hold much promise. The question is always, “Why is the studio hiding this?”
So, after a viral trailer that scared the bejesus out of people, Rob Savage’s new horror film, Other Mommy, finally arrives in theaters. And the best thing about it? That trailer.
Based on the popular novel “Incidents Around the House” by Josh Malerman, Other Mommy follows Bella (a terrific Arabella Olivia Clark), a little girl with a supernatural “other” mommy living in her bedroom’s rather large en-suite bathroom. When Bella opens and closes the bathroom door repeatedly, Other Mommy eventually shows up, and they… talk? Play? Braid each other’s hair? Who knows? It’s never really explained.
Anyway, Other Mommy eventually enters Bella’s daily life by becoming a doppelgänger of her actual mother (Jessica Chastain) and wreaking havoc on the family. Why? Well, at some point, it’s half-heartedly mentioned that Other Mommy wants to be let into Bella’s heart. So, I guess… possession? It’s never really clear. Nothing is ever really clear.
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This movie feels like it was once much, much longer and had a lot more depth before the studio got ahold of it and decided it wanted a hundred jump scares instead of an actual plot. (It’s Blumhouse, so of course.) Because it’s based on a novel, you know there’s more to this story than what we’re getting. Hints everywhere suggest a much bigger, more interesting idea.
Dad (Jay Duplass) is very close to Bella, while her mom is a bit standoffish. Why? Who knows? How does Bella feel about this? Who knows? Is this why she likes talking to Other Mommy? Who… knows?
Once Other Mommy steps out of Bella’s en suite, Dad sees her almost immediately, yet no one seems to react with any sustained “WTF?” Dad is freaked out, but Mom is more like, “Wait, what’s happening?” So naturally, they decide to throw an anniversary party at their home, and what do you know? Another Mommy shows up.
Now there are witnesses to some supernatural shenanigans, but again… do the police get involved? Does anyone bother to have eyewitnesses corroborate the story? Nah. We’re just gonna move to a motel and hope things settle down. And, of course, they don’t.
Subplots include a potential affair, marital problems, and a distant relationship between Real Mommy and her own mother (a wasted Karen Allen), who just so happens to know some ghost hunters. So, eventually, they have to see Grandma. Is anything resolved between Real Mommy and her mother? No. Do we ever really understand what the issue is between them? No. Why? Because apparently the studio just wanted more creepiness and special effects.
Sure, there are a few jump scares and moments of shocking gore, but it’s all so oddly constructed that you’re not really scared. You’re just curious and confused.
Director Rob Savage (the amazing The Host, the meh The Boogeyman) tries his best, but we still have to wonder if he directed a better movie before the studio mangled it. Writer Nathan Elston, who adapted the novel, also wrote for the HBO hit series Succession, so you know he must have turned in something better than this.
The best thing Blumhouse could do for this film (and Jessica Chastain’s career) is go back to the editing room and release the original version. And sure, I’m taking a wild guess that this was once a much more complex story, but you can see remnants of it throughout the film. Even the second trailer opens with an extended scene that isn’t in the final movie.
Not to mention, I have a hard time believing Chastain would have signed on if this were the script she originally read.
Case in point: A random monologue in the finale comes out of nowhere and is apparently supposed to solve everything. The problem is, we didn’t even know there was a problem that required this particular monologue to solve it. It’s a big “Wait, what now?” moment.
This could have been a layered exploration of family dynamics and how the things left unsaid can create a monster of their own. Instead, it’s one (not particularly scary) jump scare after another, all leading to virtually nothing.
Credit goes to Clark as Bella because she carries the movie on her little shoulders and is 100% believable. She’s not just doing the usual “kid” schtick. Her eyes show a genuine range of emotion, and I wish her performance alone could have saved the movie.
Chastain tries, but she’s either playing cold as Real Mommy or even colder as Other Mommy. Duplass is likable, but sometimes seems to think he’s in a comedy. (Which, let’s face it, the movie occasionally veers toward without meaning to.)
Maybe a Blu-ray release will offer a longer director’s cut that fills in the many, many blanks. But until then, you can keep Other Mommy in the bathroom.
And flush her down the toilet.
She’s not worth your time.
Other Mommy is now playing in theaters.
