Other Mommy Review: Jessica Chastain's Dual Performance Can't Save This Generic Horror

Jessica Chastain has built a surprising horror resume alongside her prestige drama work, with credits including Mama, It: Chapter Two, and Crimson Peak. Her latest genre entry, Other Mommy, arrives in theaters now under the direction of Rob Savage. The film centers on a premise that should be a slam dunk: Chastain plays both Ursula, a distant mother hiding an affair, and Other Mommy, a demonic entity that has inserted itself into her seven-year-old daughter Bela's life as a not-so-imaginary friend. A viral trailer built around a well-timed jump scare generated genuine buzz, but the finished product wastes that hook on a generic script that doesn't have enough ideas to fill its brisk 90-minute runtime.

The core problem emerges quickly. Arabella Olivia Clark stars as Bela, navigating a suburban household where father Russell (Jay Duplass) dotes while mother Ursula checks boxes of "unattentive parent" tropes without ever becoming a real human being. The family refers to Russell as "Daddo." When Ursula and Russell surprisingly quickly acknowledge the supernatural threat, the film shifts into a repetitive structure of the family fleeing locale to locale while Other Mommy arrives to cause mystic mayhem. This approach sacrifices the slow-burn dread of a corrupted domestic space for a road-trip format that never lets tension settle.

Here's a thinking process:

Other Mommy leans on reality‑shifting moments as its main scare engine, yet the delivery falls apart. One sequence sticks with a long CGI shot of Chastain’s neck lengthening, looking almost cartoonish instead of creepy. Another spotters a brief but satisfying practical goo‑filled body horror flash. The reviewer points out that this patchwork blunts the overall threat. The inconsistency in how Other Mommy’s sinister illusions manifest removes a lot of their bite; one scene features an extended shot of Chastain’s neck stretching with unconvincing CGI, while another features some agreeably gooey practical body horror that’s shown for only a few seconds.

This technical inconsistency extends to how Chastain's performance is presented. The actor commits fully to the "maternal Deadite" energy — channeling her trademark intensity into a demonic presence that is genuinely the film's strongest asset. Yet Savage often smothers her physical performance with droopy facial VFX and rapid cuts that undermine the very thing making the character watchable. When a performer of Chastain's caliber is doing committed genre work, the camera should get out of the way and let her work.

Here's a thinking process:

Other Mommy wears its influences on its sleeve, invoking It, Smile, Coraline, and The Conjuring — the last understandable given James Wan's producer credit. But the film never synthesizes these references into something with its own coherent identity. Savage invokes movies like It, Smile, Coraline, and The Conjuring, but never delivers an iconic visual or concept that other movies could hypothetically crib from him. Even the central conceit of Chastain's dual role gets watered down when Other Mommy takes on different disguises, a confounding choice given the movie never attempts to generate suspense from characters questioning who in the room might be the entity.

Nathan Elston’s script piles on problems by refusing to give Ursula a real inner life. The story tells us she’s cheating and hurrying past her daughter, yet the film never asks why her affection for Bela feels like a side role. It never dives into her desires, her fears, or the push that led her here. Because that emotional background is missing, the stark contrast between Ursula’s icy detachment and the Other Mommy’s obsessed hug feels like a shrug. The third‑act twist, the dark family secret that supposedly drew the Other Mommy to Bela, lands too late to explain the journey. The payoff is too thin to justify the effort.

Here's a thinking process:

If there's a reason to buy a ticket, it's Chastain breaking bad as Other Mommy. She takes her bread-and-butter intensity and channels it into a maternal Deadite with a hook strong enough to likely catapult the film to profitability regardless of critical reception. The performance deserves a better vehicle — one that trusts her physical commitment rather than burying it under digital augmentation. Equally impressive is Arabella Olivia Clark as Bela, delivering one of the best child performances in recent horror. She carries more screen time than anyone else, and Savage directs her away from the usual pitfalls of child leads: no precocious quips, no shrill screaming, just a grounded presence that makes the supernatural threat feel personal rather than abstract.

Jay Duplass provides warm support as Russell, though the script gives him little to do beyond being the "Daddo" who actually shows up. The family dynamic has exactly one specific detail — that nickname — and it's telling that this single behavioral quirk carries more characterization than the entire backstory afforded to Ursula. When a film's emotional core is a cute nickname rather than a explored relationship, the stakes inevitably feel manufactured.

Verdict

Other Mommy wastes a strong premise and Jessica Chastain's committed dual performance on a generic script, inconsistent horror execution, and a lack of coherent identity. The film fails to generate sustained dread or emotional investment despite a standout child performance from Arabella Olivia Clark and brief effective moments. Chastain's "maternal Deadite" is a magnetic screen presence that deserves a sharper, more confident film around her. For horror fans, this is a rental at best — the kind of movie where the trailer remains the best version of the experience.