Other Mommy is a film that, for the life of me, I cannot understand why it was not titled Other Mother. Other Mother rhymes, reads more cleanly, and seems more logical. In fairness, the story is told from the little girl’s perspective, and she refers to the entity as Other Mommy. She would not say Other Mother unless she were conversing with Jean-Luc Picard in the Nexus. “Father and Other Mother”—I also appreciate the doll.
Other Mommy is directed by Rob Savage, director of the 2023 Boogeyman film. Interpret that as you will, but he is the same director. The movie centers on a family: mother, father, and daughter. The daughter has an imaginary friend she calls Other Mommy, because the entity sometimes takes the form of her mother, played by Jessica Chastain. The premise is that demons are frustrated they do not get to live as humans, so they must do things such as take over bodies in order to experience human life. In any case, the little girl must willingly give herself over to the entity. The entity essentially says, “If you are not going to do that, I will simply frighten you severely. That will make you like and trust me more.”
The problem with this movie—did I say problem singular? I will discuss what I liked, keeping in mind that the scenes I am about to describe could largely be removed from the film. It is as though this movie is a series of scenes existing in isolated bubbles. You could keep the event at the beginning, then the party, then omit the family leaving entirely, and proceed directly to the final act. The film is only 90 minutes long. I give it credit for that, but cutting those scenes would have saved us more time.
That said, I appreciate the paranormal investigator scene. It clashes completely with the rest of the movie, but the movie clashes frequently. There are elements that seem to be moving in an interesting direction, yet they are never developed. The opening is also excellent. The beginning of this movie is essentially the first trailer for Other Mommy. My mind says, “No, it is Mother, right?” No, it is not. It is a strong scene, but it definitely feels as though someone created a scene that would make a good trailer—a hook—and overlooked or possibly forgot that a feature-length film would need to be built around it for theatrical release. But here we are. The opening scene is genuinely effective. Do not worry about it. If you have seen the trailer, you have already seen it, so we can move on.
Because the opening scene is the only scene in the movie that appears to attempt genuine horror. Actually, not merely horror—that would be an oversimplification. The beginning is the only sequence with any real tension. I understand and acknowledge that trailers are a sales pitch. Material audiences may not like is omitted, and context is reshuffled, reshaped, and re-edited to appear better than it may in the final film. Regardless, trailers are promises, and I felt misled by Other Mommy. The phrasing makes me laugh, but the point remains.
It is many things. It contains scenes that are somewhat cool and scenes that are excessive. It tries to be dramatic. It tries to be funny. One thing it is not is scary, or even mildly creepy. When I say the film is trying to be cool, I mean there are concepts I found interesting. The child being teleported out of a ball pit, with all the balls following her, is a cool visual in execution, but it also makes you ask, “Are you making a soft reboot of Jumper? What is this?” I am not claiming it was taken from Jumper. I am merely saying it reminded me of Jumper. Instead of a lake with lake water following through teleportation, it is a child in a ball pit with the ball pit’s contents following. I cannot say whether the hypodermic needles or less sanitary contents of the ball pit followed through, but the balls did.
The same applies to the large CGI monsters chasing and killing people. This movie does not seem to recognize that in situations like this, less is often more. Instead, we get a large CGI creature with glowing eyes. You sit there and realize Batman with glowing eyes in Batman Begins was actually scarier. I will say it: that is likely a problem.
Again, there are inconsistencies. The film occasionally attempts an over-the-top, bloody kill, but it does not make sense for the movie we are actually watching. It is similar to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. You know the scene where the TX is in the back of the car, punches through a man’s back and out his stomach, grabs the steering wheel, and begins steering the car? The scene feels completely out of context for the rest of the movie. Other Mommy has kills like that, where you wonder what the filmmakers were going for. It is overproduced with CGI and teleportation. It should have been a smaller-scale, more emotional, and more personal family story. That is the central idea, correct? The demon is there to destroy that dynamic, but you do not care.
Many times while watching, I thought this is what the movie Backrooms could have been. Fortunately for Backrooms, it was not. Backrooms had practical sets and a large costumed figure resembling a mannequin pirate pursuing people. It was unsettling because it felt real. You do not need much to frighten people. Consider many of the successful horror films of 2026: they succeed because they are imaginative and avoid CGI overload.
By the time the film reaches for emotional resonance and attempts to bring everything full circle—to deliver a genuine emotional impact—it fails. It has tested the viewer’s patience for an hour and a half, but the intended emotional payoff does not land. You do not care. You feel none of it. The entire experience feels as though someone was hurt by their family and is now taking that pain out on the audience. It is almost as if someone created the opening scene—the one that functions as the trailer—and then said, “Hey, Grok, finish the film for me.” Now that I have said it aloud, it really does feel that way. It is difficult to convey how different the introduction is from the rest of the film. At that point, the best approach is simply to finish it. Other Mommy is ultimately a poor film.
All right, so Other Mommy—have you seen it? What did you think? Or what is a horror film that is too overproduced and too large for what it needs to be? Whatever it is, whatever you think, comment below and let me know.