by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
Growing up, I was very horror averse. I remember a commercial for the 75th anniversary of Snow White used to scare me. Witchcraft and demons didn’t mix with little Sam. As I got older and my cinematic horizons expanded, my parents didn’t discourage me from seeing any movie in particular so, I saw a few horror movies. Perhaps the first one that truly interested me was It Follows. The frightening imagery was impressive and emotionally jarring in a fitting way for a horror movie. There was a solid hook in the monster being passed from one victim to another, and Maika Monroe delivered a star-making performance. Combined with the messaging about the trauma and pain leftover from past romances that we bring into a relationship with someone new. I was hooked. This was my gateway to the great horror movies of the time like The Babadook, The VVitch, and Hereditary. I found myself watching more and more horror movies and going back to discover hallowed horror hits of yesteryear. But I craved that high of something emotionally charged, frightening, well-written, and well-made.
I went into Other Mommy cautiously optimistic. With Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain at the helm as the titular mommy, there was potential. And the elevator pitch was not overly complicated. Young Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) is haunted by a being that looks just like her mother (Chastain). As the creature’s appearances become more frequent, both Bela’s mother and father (Jay Duplass) begin to notice it as well and the creature, who Bela has dubbed “other mommy,” flexes its power and messes with Bela’s mind more as it begs to be “let into Bela’s heart.”
Not a terrible setup for a horror movie and to be honest it has a few things going for it. First of all, Chastain delivers in spades. She is disturbing and disdainful when it calls for either. Remember, she pulled double duty here playing a mother and a monster. So, she has lots of opportunity to shine. Personally, I think both sides of Chastain role are a little undercooked as the monster’s motivations and history is never expanded on, and the mom exists just to be the person the monster is reflecting until the very end when she gets some emotional moments. It’s the kind of role that sounds good on paper, but it’s about as deep as the kiddy pool. Still getting Chastain for a movie like this is a win.
Now, I don’t know if this will be a launching point for a great career, but the young Arabella Olivia Clark was terrific. When the moment calls for fear, she is convincingly frightened and that really is all most horror movies ask from a child actor. But she shows curiosity in the monster, exhaustion from running from it, and at a few points the bravery needed to stand up to her tormentor. While the beast is haunting Bela, there’s not too much emotional weight on her but, in the moments she is called on, Clark delivers.
Unfortunately, the praiseworthy performances end with mommy and daughter. It is not for a lack of quality actors, but a lack in meaty roles. Duplass is a fine actor but exists only to try to protect Bela. He has no meaningful connection to the beast or deeper moments save one near the end of the story. The rest of the cast is rounded out with respected names like Dichen Lachman (Severance), Sean Kaufman (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Arian Moayed (Wonder Man), and Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark). None of them are deeper than one dimension or a simply a stepping stone for ‘other mommy’ to get to Bela. Those are some talented folks who could have been very useful in fleshing out what exactly this beast is. I have no problem with expendable or red herring characters in a horror movie, but it loses flavor when they are without any personality.
Fortunately, the movie spends most of its time with just Chastain and Clark as ‘other mommy’ tries to get into Bela’s heart. The nightmare sequences has somewhat of a low-budget feel, but the film doesn’t enter into the uncanny valley and looks legit the whole time. There is a flowy unnatural feeling to these frightening sequences, akin to a real nightmare. So, it gets a pass from me on that front.
But at certain points when I should feel my breathing getting fast and my stomach turning, that feeling never comes. Again, it is not for lack of effort into making these scenes. But it is akin to ordering a banana split and it arrives without the banana: you’ve still got a bowl of ice cream, but you paid for the banana too.
Speaking of what else is missing here is a greater metaphor or message of some kind. To be clear, not every piece of art needs to have a deeper theme. But good moral or thematic undertones can take a good horror movie and make it a great one. Jaws was great not just because it was man versus beast, but because it was about man’s hubris in thinking they could control nature. How some people can overlook potential danger because addressing it could cause other problems. Back to the banana split metaphor, a good theme or message is like adding caramel sauce to the sundae.
Other Mommy has no such higher message or theme to share with its audience. It’s all about surviving and escaping this beast. Given this movie is only an hour and 30 minutes, there is not a ton of time spent dwelling on what’s happening or what it means. There are a few moments where there’s a hint at something deeper between Bela and her mother. Maybe there’s a family secret ‘other mommy’ could exploit. Yet it’s never explored further until the very end and then it’s no more than a minute or two.
What really disappoint me with this lack of thematic depth is it could have been so easy to make a real deeper and darker story. Explore the dynamic between Bela and her actual mom. Stop with the many horrific and nightmare scenes and just let the two exist together with real and difficult conversations between them. Clark showed that she had the chops to do it, and we know Chastain can hold up her end of a scene. But Other Mommy was content being horror fodder when it could have been the next great, elevated horror.
Rating: High Side of Just Okay
Other Mommy is currently playing in theaters.
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