"Other Mommy"

☆☆

If you're a fan of intelligent horror, carefully constructed characters, slow dread and well-conceived terror and you're tempted to see Other Mommy, here's my best recommendation:

See other movie.

This is an aggressively silly movie, one that combines a certain base level ridiculousness with an almost aggressive aversion to things like plot and character development.

A little girl talks to "other mommy." That's the setup. That's it. That's all.

Why? How? Who's the real mommy that leaves her wishing she had another mommy? Is this an imaginary friend, a real demon? Who knows? Who cares? Certainly the filmmakers don't.

Imagine The Exorcist beginning not in Iraq or in Georgetown or with the longtime effort of Father Merrin to find the demon or with Chris and Regan MacNeil and their relationship, but with Regan saying, "My bed is shaking," and, in the next shot, spinning her head.

That's more or less what happens here. Other Mommy (Jessica Chastain, who's also Actual Mommy) shows up and real Daddy (Jay Duplass) not only can see her, but she nearly sets the house on fire, while Bela offers no insight into who this creature might be. 

That said, 10-year-old Arabella Olivia Clark is pretty astonishing in this role, despite being in a terrible movie, and has a real screen presence. She's a natural at this.

But Jessica Chastain, a Juilliard-trained multi-Oscar nominee and Oscar winner? What's she doing here? I think I know what she needs: other agent.

This isn't a good movie. And it's not bad enough to rise to the level of entertaining. Maybe it's made for streaming, where nuances of character and plot don't matter? When you're making dinner or half-paying attention to a Zoom call, all you really need to know is: a little girl is stalked by a creepy other mommy! 

Why? How? Does the little girl's compass, shown in a dozen shots, have something to do with it? If so, what? Where does this creature come from? Why does it want to be loved? And if it wants to be loved, why is it punching its fingers through the jaws of unsuspecting men? And why add in a subplot about Real Mommy's infidelities and Real Daddy's pot smoking and a "revelation" that feels so arbitrary and pointless that it doesn't add a single thing to the movie?

Oof.

Other Mommy is bad. And not just temperamentally.

Viewed October 13, 2026 — Regal Sherman Oaks

1310