“Other Mommy” is directed by Rob Savage (Host, The Boogeyman) and stars Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Jay Duplass (Pain Hustlers, Transparent), Arabella Olivia Clark (The Housemaid, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere), Rosie Anne O’Gorman, Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse, Neighbours), Arian Moayed (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Succession), Sean Kaufman (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Stumble), and Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Sandlot). This film is based on Josh Malerman’s 2024 horror novel “Incidents Around the House” and follows a young girl named Bela who is trying her best to adjust to a new school and the growing separation between her parents. At the same time, she communicates with a supernatural being that resembles her mother, much to the bewilderment of her family.

Trailers are some of the coolest marketing tools ever created. Well… Unless you are sitting at an AMC and wondering why the movie hasn’t started yet. But one of the trailers I had the pleasure of watching during select film experiences recently is “Other Mommy.” The trailer came out last summer, around the same time that “The Odyssey” came to theaters. Logistically, this makes sense. After all, Universal released “The Odyssey,” and “Other Mommy” is also a Universal film. It is essentially Universal getting everyone thinking about “what’s next” just as they dive into their latest project.

One of the things I remember deeply from the trailer was in addition to several sequences showing her off, there was a giant piece of text reading “JESSICA CHASTAIN.” It was so big it took up the whole frame. I get why. She is a big star. She has top billing. The movie’s marketing shows her off for good reason.

Now that I have seen the movie, I am reminded of my experiences with some of the recent “Godzilla” projects, particularly 2014 and “King of the Monsters.” These are films with excellent marketing campaigns, but their movies absolutely pale in comparison.

“Other Mommy” will go down as one of the biggest disappointments of 2026. Based on how much the trailer excited me, it is a film that I wanted to see as soon as possible. And upon seeing it, part of me wants a Men in Black agent to neuralyze the memory of this film from my existence. For those who pay attention to the cinematic calendar, there is often at least one horror movie that releases at the beginning of the year. Specifically January or February. This feels like a horror film that belongs in one of those months, but because this film had such an excellent marketing campaign, Universal likely decided October, which is primetime for horror with Halloween coming up, was the best month for this movie instead.

If anything, the trailer did not lie, Jessica Chastain deserves to be the top selling point of the film. After all, she plays two different characters, to a degree anyway, and by no means are either of her performances bad. However, I do wish Chastain were given better material. This film feels more like a Jessica Chastain demo reel rather than an actual movie.

When the film features Chastain as Ursula, we see her as this loving, but concerned mother of her daughter Bela, who occasionally communicates with a supernatural entity, who we come to know as the “Other Mommy.” That is where Chastain’s finer material comes in, and part of it is because of her facial expressions and general dialogue delivery, but the special effects work also occasionally adds a nice touch in some sequences.

That said, there is an unappealing vibe to this film. While the film may look polished, its dialogue and characters come off as if they belong in a Lifetime or Syfy original movie. The only reason why they are not on either of these channels is because, well, Jessica Chastain. She may not be as big as Zendaya, but she has proven she can give knockout performances, so putting her name front and center prompts high expectations. Maybe other than Jay Duplass, I did not recognize a good chunk of the film’s cast. But it didn’t matter. The film got my money anyway. Sadists.

To piggyback off of the unappealing vibe, there is a tonal inconsistency to the movie. The fact that it has Jessica Chastain in the lead role leads to, unsurprisingly, a decent performance. But I feel like it would have been slightly better if the film stuck to a serious tone. There are a lot of cheesy moments in this movie, whether they were intended or not. In addition, there were chunks of dialogue that were almost designed as if they were to diss on horror movie cliches, even if this horror film uses some of those cliches to a certain degree.

While “Other Mommy” is by no means the worst story I had the displeasure of sitting through, I was shocked to realize how bored I became as a result of watching the movie. The film starts off fine, but it becomes increasingly dull minute by minute. “Other Mommy” is 93 minutes. For a feature-length film, that is not long. There are so many scenes where the pace is surprisingly slow. Not slow in a way that is digestible, but slow in a way that makes it feel like Other Mommy is tucking me in so I can fall asleep.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about “Other Mommy” is that the film is not scary. I watched this film in D-Box, and that did not even save it! The only way I can see someone jumping out of their skin as a result of “Other Mommy” is if their fanaticism for jumpscares is as extreme as skydiving. If you like jumpscares, “Other Mommy” might be your cup of tea. I am not the biggest fan of jumpscares, I think they are traditionally cheap, and this movie showcases their tacky nature.

I love a good twist in a movie. Note the use of the word good. This movie has a twist, but good is not the word I would use to describe it. If anything, I found the twist somewhat predictable. Granted, the twist is not broken, but still. The movie drops this ball towards the end that is supposed to sound like this big game-changer but in reality, I could kind of see it coming from a mile away. In fact, you know what would have been a great twist? This movie getting better! But it doesn’t! Forget “Other Mommy,” consider me interested in other MOVIES.

In the end, “Other Mommy” is shockingly boring and lacking in terror. Is “Other Mommy” the worst movie of the year? Not quite. Although I am confounded in what it was the crew was going for. Is this serious? Campy? Both? “Other Mommy” seems to have an identity crisis. Jessica Chastain is a fantastic actress and she commits to each scene. She never seems to phone it in. I am just disappointed she was not able to lend her tremendous talent to something much more watchable. If you like Jessica Chastain, there are better options for your viewing pleasure. “Interstellar,” “Zero Dark Thirty…” Heck! She even has a movie with MOTHER in the title that is better than this! If you have not seen “Mothers’ Instinct,” go check it out. It is a good watch. I am going to give “Other Mommy” a 4/10.

Also, I have heard some people online say that instead of “Other Mommy,” this movie should be called “Other Mother.” But I will defend the title “Other Mommy.” First off, some people might see “Other Mother” and think of the character from “Coraline,” which is much better movie than this one, by the way. Also, this movie is from the perspective of a girl who is still in the single-digit age range. Chances are the word “mommy” is part of her daily vocabulary. Just my two cents. There are some things in this movie that raises my eyebrows. The title is not one of them.

“Other Mommy” is now playing in theaters. Tickets are available now.

Thanks for reading this review! If you would like to see more of my film reviews, then check out my latest episode of “Movie Requests!” This latest episode features special guest Joe Gatto, who you may know from the TV series “Impractical Jokers!” He asked me to review the dark comedy “Gringo!” Click the video above to find out my thoughts! If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and leave a like as well!

I am also happy to announce the next guest on Movie Requests is going to be Adam Conover! You may know Conover as the star of “Adam Ruins Everything,” as well as the host of his podcast “Factually!”. Conover is also a stand-up comedian who is touring across the United States. His new special, “Big Divorce Energy,” is now available on YouTube! You can catch me talking about Conover’s film of choice on Monday, November 2nd. The video will be available, again, on my YouTube channel, as well as this very website, Flicknerd.com. Look forward to it!

My next review is going to be for “The Social Reckoning.” Stay tuned! Also coming soon, I will be sharing my thoughts on “Sense and Sensibility,” “Whalefall,” “Wildwood,” “Clayface,” and “You Can See Everything.” If you want to see these reviews and more from Scene Before, follow the blog either with an email or WordPress account! Also, check out the official Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “Other Mommy?” What did you think about? Or, of the movies in which Jessica Chastain stars that contain some variation of a maternal figure in its title, which one do you think is the best? Is it “Other Mommy?” “Mothers’ Instinct?” “Mama?” I still have not seen “Mama,” so I may not have the most valid opinion here. But if you have seen “Mama,” let me know if it is better than this dud. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!