Jessica Chastain Is This Generation’s Secret Scream Queen

There’s a sentiment I’m going to share that I’m certain any film buff reading this will understand: I love actresses. The performances, the glitz and glamour, all of it. It’s not quite parasocial, but there’s something about actresses that captivates me. I love seeing them stun. Win awards. Weep and scream and act. Few privileges are quite as rewarding as seeing good acting (and that’s why, despite my grievances, I’m so grateful to Obsession for introducing us to Inde Navarette).

Of course, that’s not limited to just Certified Cinephiles. The horror genre especially embraces women like few others. Sure, it’s not perfect, but we have our icons, our scream queens, our fans reasonably obsessed with I Know What You Did Last Summer. There are genre stalwarts, and we love them, but when it comes to A-listers (those performers with the highest commercial viability), the trajectory is often as follows: Start in horror, win an Academy Award, and move on. In some circles, horror is cheap – low-effort cinema that springboards careers rather than sustaining them.

It’s why, small as it might seem, it’s pretty remarkable to see the additional ramifications of horror’s post-2020 upswing, namely with regard to Jessica Chastain and Other Mommy. Chastain, who won an Academy Award in 2022 for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, is one of horror’s secret weapons. An acclaimed, certified A-lister who remains committed to some of the genre’s most daring, exciting projects.

While not a perfect comparison, this decade’s slate of Best Actress Oscar winners includes few certified horror buffs. Mikey Madison had Scream, sure (but that was pre-win). Emma Stone goes adjacent, but never full horror. Michelle Yeoh is much the same. Cate Blanchett has never been in a genuine horror movie, and neither has Frances McDormand or Meryl Streep. Jennifer Lawrence did Mother!, but audience reactions might have scared her away from horror for good.

Jessica Chastain doesn’t just embrace the genre, but she lends her inimitable talent to some of the most daring—and enduring—horror movies of the generation. I’ve read , so I’m as confident as can be that it’s going to be seriously scary. That is to say nothing of Chastain’s other forays into the genre, so here we’ll be looking at her history in the genre and why she remains one of the genre’s secret weapons.