Other Mommy (2026) Review!!

Synopsis – Bela, an 8-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity that comes out of her closet. The presence, who she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.

My Take – Horror has given us some of cinema’s most terrifying mothers, women whose obsession, cruelty, or suffocating need for control transforms motherhood into a nightmare. From manipulative matriarchs to outright monsters, these characters challenge the comforting notion that a mother’s love is always unconditional. Sometimes, the most frightening presence in a horror film isn’t a ghost or a demon, but the person meant to protect you.

However, this latest Rob Savage (Host, The Boogeyman) directorial, which is based on a screenplay by Nathan Elston (Succession) and adapts Josh Malerman’s best-selling 2024 novel Incidents Around the House, appears determined to combine all of those archetypes into a slick, action-heavy supernatural thriller. Packed with jump scares, elaborate set pieces, and relentless supernatural chaos, it’s a film that rarely lets its foot off the gas.

Unfortunately, despite an unsettling premise, a strong visual identity, and a genuinely eerie first act, the film ultimately falls short of its potential. What begins as a haunting exploration of family dysfunction gradually gives way to a more conventional spectacle, favoring shocks and excess over meaningful emotional depth.

Anchored by Jessica Chastain, whose dramatic gravitas lends considerable weight to her dual role, the film struggles to balance its competing ambitions. It wants to be both elevated horror and crowd-pleasing supernatural blockbuster. On one hand, it’s filled with creepy encounters, violent confrontations, and an increasingly destructive entity. On the other, there’s a compelling family drama simmering beneath the surface, offering glimpses of deeper emotional wounds and fractured relationships. Sure, the result remains consistently watchable and engaging, but the stronger film is the one that never quite emerges.

Rather than fully exploring the family trauma at the heart of its story, it becomes increasingly consumed by grotesque imagery and visceral shock value. In trying to be both a thoughtful psychological horror and an over-the-top supernatural spectacle, it never commits enough to either, leaving behind a film that entertains in the moment but ultimately feels frustratingly superficial.

The story follows seven-year-old Bella (Arabella Olivia Clark), a lonely young girl struggling to navigate her parents’ crumbling marriage. Her mother, Ursula (Jessica Chastain), is consumed by the demands of her high-powered corporate career, while her father, Russell (Jay Duplass), is an unemployed househusband who shoulders most of Bella’s day-to-day care.

As Bella grapples with a new school and the growing emotional distance between her parents, she begins communicating with a mysterious supernatural entity that looks exactly like her mother, a figure she calls “Other Mommy.” What initially seems like an imaginary friend takes a darker turn when the entity repeatedly urges Bella to let it into her heart. At first, Ursula and Russell dismiss Bella’s claims as a coping mechanism or childish fantasy. But when they begin experiencing the entity’s presence for themselves, they are forced to confront the terrifying reality and perhaps save their family before it’s too late.

No doubt, the film boasts a terrific premise, one rooted in every child’s worst fears. That makes it all the more disappointing that, after an unnerving opening that promises something genuinely disturbing, the story never reaches those same heights again, leaving Chastain to do much of the heavy lifting through sheer screen presence and the kind of expressive performance that suggests far more depth than the script is willing to explore.

The domestic setting is particularly effective, transforming familiar spaces into potential sources of dread and unease. Yet the film is ultimately undermined by a larger problem: its reluctance to dig beneath the surface of its own story. While it sprinkles in hints and character beats that point toward deeper emotional truths, it relies too heavily on familiar genre shortcuts.

Key revelations are telegraphed so clearly that they lose much of their impact, and rather than mining the rich thematic ideas at its core, the film seems far more interested in rushing from one elaborate horror set piece to the next. Ironically, the strongest element is the Martin family’s unraveling relationship. Between the jump scares and supernatural confrontations, we watch a marriage slowly fracture under the weight of resentment, disappointment, and emotional distance.

The tension between Ursula and Russell is palpable, often felt most strongly in the moments when they share no words at all. Despite the script’s occasionally superficial treatment of these dynamics, subtle details allow audiences to fill in the blanks. Its exploration of loneliness, parental conflict, and emotional manipulation is compelling, but the film too often resorts to having the supernatural elements carry ideas that should have emerged naturally through the characters.

There is a difference between creating genuine unease and simply hinting that something unpleasant is lurking around the corner, and the film rarely seems aware of that distinction. That same issue extends to the scares themselves. Most feel less genuinely frightening than mechanically engineered, relying on gimmicks and sudden shocks rather than atmosphere.

Even the titular creator remains frustratingly underdeveloped: an apparently omnipotent entity whose abilities are never clearly defined and whose desire to become human is ultimately explained through a familiar piece of elevated-horror symbolism. Unfortunately, the film’s thematic ambitions prove far more intriguing than the horror story built around them.

Performance wise, Jessica Chastain delivers a standout turn, effortlessly balancing maternal warmth with an underlying sense of menace, capturing both Ursula’s vulnerability and Other Mommy’s unsettling presence. Arabella Olivia Clark proves equally impressive, serving as the film’s emotional anchor and avoiding the overused “creepy child” stereotype that so often plagues horror.

Jay Duplass brings a quiet sadness and sincerity to Russell, effectively conveying a father struggling to hold his family together as everything around him falls apart. Supporting players Karen Allen, Arian Moayed, Sean Kaufman, and Dichen Lachman try their best to make the most of their limited screen time. On the whole, ‘Other Mommy‘ is a frustratingly underwhelming horror thriller that wastes a chilling premise and strong performances on limp pacing and surprisingly few genuine scares.