How scary is Other Mommy? A demon wears Jessica Chastain's face to reach her 8-year-old — critics say the movie wastes it
The premise is nightmare fuel, the trailer's jump scare went viral, and the reviews read like incident reports. Here's what you're actually signing up for.
On paper, Other Mommy is as scary as mainstream horror gets. An entity in the closet of 8-year-old Bela looks and sounds exactly like her mother Ursula — both played by Jessica Chastain — and politely, patiently asks the girl to let it in. It's R-rated, based on Bird Box author Josh Malerman's novel Incidents Around the House, directed by Host's Rob Savage, and produced by James Wan. The trailer's jump scare made audiences at The Odyssey screenings flinch so reliably it went viral in July.
On screen, according to the people who've now seen it, that trailer was the peak. The film sits at 18% on Rotten Tomatoes from its first 46 reviews, and the complaint is remarkably consistent: not that it's too disturbing, but that it isn't disturbing enough.
"The film is missing a sense of dreadful build-up that might help its scares sink in deeper."
— Richard Lawson, The Hollywood Reporter
The AU Review's Peter Gray put the waste more surgically: "Other Mommy might know how to make an entrance, but it has absolutely no idea what to do once it's in the room." Culture Mix's Carla Hay went further, calling it "an incoherent embarrassment to everyone involved." For balance, Heaven of Horror's positive review argues it "feels made for the fans first" — jump-scare fans, that is.
Don't miss: Other Mommy villains explained: Jessica Chastain plays both the demon and the mother it impersonates
So will it actually scare you?
Translating the reviews into a practical answer: expect a handful of loud, well-built jump scares — Savage is a technician, and the entrance scenes work — connected by stretches critics describe as flat and tension-free. If creepy-double imagery of a parent gets under your skin, the concept alone may carry you. If you need sustained dread, the consensus says it never arrives.
The audiences who went opening weekend largely sided with the critics after the fact. The film opened at No. 1 with $27.5 million — above projections, and proof the trailer did its job — but exit polls handed it a D+ CinemaScore, one of the lowest grades a No. 1 opener can get.
Chastain had never fronted a rotten horror movie: Mama at 63%, IT: Chapter Two at 62%, Crimson Peak at 72%. Other Mommy broke the streak at 18.
The verdict
Moderately scary in bursts, not haunting, and genuinely frustrating if you love the premise — which is exactly the profile of a horror hit with no second weekend. The D+ crowd has already told you how the word of mouth goes from here.
Previously we wrote: Clayface plot leak: DC's Gotham horror reportedly has no Batman — and not one familiar DC face