Other Mommy, the Jessica Chastain horror film that spent weeks as an internet obsession, has finally met its critics, and the verdict from two prominent outlets is lukewarm at best. The Guardian gave it two stars and called it a mess, while Vulture said the scariest thing in it is an image already seen in the previews.
Universal held critic screenings back until the day of release, which the Guardian read as a sign of worry about reviews. The paper noted that the studio was hoping to protect pre-ticket sales, and that the film was forecast to win its opening weekend with more than $20m.
A trailer that outran the movie
According to the Guardian, the trailer's contorted imagery pulled in more than 30m views on the official YouTube channel and spawned screen-grab memes. Universal had attached it exclusively to screenings of The Odyssey, and BuzzFeed ran a headline about moviegoers screaming at it. A second trailer, the Guardian said, didn't spread the same way.
Vulture's critic zeroed in on the same footage: Chastain smiling manically while folded beneath a kitchen table. Hilarious and jarring, the review says, it is the film's high point, and it arrives fairly early. The Guardian's verdict was that the film is "less of a one-star train wreck and more of a two-star mess."
What the film is about
Rob Savage directs, working from Nathan Elston's script, which the Guardian says adapts Josh Malerman's novel Incidents Around the House. Chastain plays Ursula, a working mother. Her double is a demon who befriends Ursula's young daughter Bela, played by Arabella Olivia Clark, and wants to be let into the girl's heart. Vulture adds that Bela is seven, that Jay Duplass plays her father Russ, and that Arian Moayed plays Frank, a friend involved in an affair with Ursula. Karen Allen plays Ursula's mother, who is obsessed with the occult.
Both critics praise parts of the craft. The Guardian says Chastain's cool, elegant manner suits both the exhausted parent and the monster rehearsing human expressions. Vulture credits Savage with gliding camera work and inventive staging, including a conversation seen in a compass's reflection.
Where the reviews part ways with the film
The complaints overlap in one area: the demon is too unconstrained. The Guardian says her many guises erode her distinctiveness and leave her an industry-standard monster, with the story feeling like loosely linked set pieces. Vulture says a villain without limits wears thin, that events seem driven by plot convenience, and that the 93-minute running time still overstays its welcome.
The Guardian also takes aim at Savage's stated goal of 50 jump scares, roughly one every two minutes, calling it a sign of exhausting priorities. It says the finale, which it describes as Poltergeist-style, softens the novel's bleaker ending.
Each critic points to something left underused. The Guardian argues that a chillier, quieter version could have got under the skin, and that the psychological pressure on Bela is scarier than the repeated effects. Vulture sees a potentially troubling idea about motherhood and ambivalence toward parenting, but says the film isn't thoughtful or emotionally observant enough to do anything with it.
Why it matters
Other Mommy shows how far a single trailer can carry a horror release, and how little a trailer says about the finished film. With the reviews landing only as the film reached cinemas, the weekend box office will be the first real test of whether the marketing outweighs the notices.
Reporting sources: Culture | The Guardian, “Other Mommy review – Jessica Chastain’s demonic double horror isn’t nightmarish enough” · Vulture, “Nice Try, Other Mommy”.