Certain stories hit at primal emotions, deep-seated fears within humanity. Make those childhood emotions and fears, you have yourself something special. I’m really hoping that’s what we’re getting from Rob Savage’s Other Mommy. Jessica Chastain plays dual roles as both a mother and the supernatural evil entity who looks like her trying to steal her daughter away. The first trailer a few months ago was really freaky. This final trailer for the movie—which comes out October 9—certainly isn’t any less so. Take a look.
The film follows an eight-year-old girl named Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) whose Mommy (Chastain) and Daddo (Jay Duplass) have marital problems. Bela gets an, it seems, imaginary friend in the form of Other Mommy, who looks exactly like her real mother. But gradually Other Mommy begins to ask to go into Bela’s heart. It may not sound all that bad…but it’s the way she asks it. Malevolence and horror abounds.
Other cast members include Dichen Lachman (Severance), Arian Moayed (Wonder Man), and Karen Allen (Indiana Jones).
Other Mommy is based on Josh Malerman’s novel Incidents Around the House. I just recently read this book and found it very upsetting and impactful. A few interesting observations about the movie—having only seen these trailers—come up. First, the book is entirely from Bela’s point of view, narrated by her in present tense. It really makes the reader empathize with her and the way she sees a horrifying reality. Second, the Other Mommy in the book doesn’t necessarily look like Mommy. It’s a sort of unknowable, misshapen thing with hair on its back and arms and a massive mouth. Much harder to dramatize.
And the final interesting thing about the book is that Mommy and Daddo, and others too, believe Bela about Other Mommy pretty early on, because they see her too. I really hope that carries over to the movie. One of my least favorite things in horror fiction is adults not believing children. It’s so much more interesting than spending half the movie with the grown-ups thinking their children have lost their minds.
At any rate, I’m very excited to see how Other Mommy shakes out when it hits theaters October 9.