‘Other Mommy’ Review – A Generic Funhouse of Horror That’s Seldom Scary

I haven’t read Josh Malerman’s novel, Incidents Around the House, but all my friends loved it. Me? I loved Rob Savage’s Host, so I perked up when I learned he’d direct an adaptation of the book, titled Other Mommy and starring Jessica Chastain. We all know that the film is seldom as good as the novel. If nothing else, the filmmaker reiterates that with his latest, a dull, plodding, CG-ridden trek through a funhouse of horror that’s rarely scary.

Adapted for the screen by Nathan Elston, Other Mommy introduces us to Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), a seven-year-old girl with a not-so-imaginary friend. Dubbed by the kid as “Other Mommy”, the entity looks and sounds just like her mother, Ursula (Chastain). It says it loves her more than either her mother or “Daddo” (Jay Duplass). It says it wants to get inside her heart so that it can protect her. But Other Mommy is no friend. And once she’s revealed to Bela’s parents, the family finds themselves in a fight for their lives against a demon that will stop at nothing to tear them apart…if they don’t do it to each other first.

Other Mommy may be one of the most frustrating horror films I’ve seen all year. The first few scenes display so much promise, before it trips over itself with a brutal faceplant and never recovers.

During the opening scene, we meet Bela as she and Daddo dance around in her bedroom, laughing and having a great time. The girl obviously adores her father. I would too if I were her, because he’s the warm, supportive dad any kid would be lucky to have. Then mom enters, and the mood shifts. She’s the parent working late nights. Daddo’s a stay-at-home dad and pothead. Right away, we sense something off between them, and so does Bela. Once they’ve tucked her in bed and shut off the light, the little girl approaches her closet, wanting Other Mommy to come out and play. Over and over again, she opens her bathroom door, and we all wait anxiously for the thing to appear.