★½ (1½ out of 4)
Want to see the new No. 1 box office movie this holiday weekend? Then line up for “Other Mommy,” which has the wannasee mojo to knock off the competition (that’s you, “The Social Reckoning”) for the three-day Columbus celebration. Not too many fright fests can boast an Oscar winner. But this one has “Tammy Faye” diva Jessica Chastain in the dual role of Ursula, a well-meaning but workaholic mommy to eight-year-old Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark, terrific), and “other” mommy in the form of a demon twin who pops out of Bela’s closet with the goal to creep into Bela’s heart and do the unspeakable.
Intriguing, right? And Chastain, with the wink of wicked mischief that endears her to audiences, especially me, looks more than up to having some fun with it. It’s too bad the actual movie refuses to follow her lead, choosing conventional shocks every time.
Chastain knocks herself out. But the script by Nathan Elston, a staff writer on “Succession” no less, adapts Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel “Incidents Around the House,” by cherry-picking the wrong chapters. As for director Rob Savage, noted for “Host,” “Dashcam” and “The Boogeyman,” he seems to have recently discovered the jump scare and uses the tired device so often and to such diminishing effect that it kind of ties a tin can of clichés to the whole enterprise.
...annoying to the max and stupendously stupid
Bummer. I liked the idea of Other Mommy as a symbol for whatever dark force is breaking up the marriage of Bela’s parents, Ursula and Russell. Actual Mommy is a careerist to the bone, leaving most of the parenting to stay-at-home dad Russell (Jay Duplass, who seems to know he’s playing a role no one has bothered to write).
In short order, Other Mommy shows herself to Daddo (that’s what he’s called, don’t blame me), sometimes jumbled in pieces like a cubist painting that draws unintentional laughs. These people need an exorcist and, of course, they get one in the form of Lois (Dichen Lachman), who will soon regret taking the job. The great Karen Allen shows up as Bela’s grandma, mostly to disapprove of Daddo. The plot get really out of hand when Bela thinks Real Mommy might be having a fling with Frank (Arian Moayed), a family friend.
Things come to a head at a roadside fast-food restaurant’s indoor jungle gym, which Other Mommy transforms into a menacing pit of rainbow-colored rubber balls. This allows Chastain the opportunity to outdo Inde Navarretti in “Obsession” by making a collection of crazy faces. Navarretti gave us an unforgettable portrait of a woman possessed. Chastain gives us only the impression of an actress thrown into a script that defies belief and then told to make it work. Chastain’s acting artistry is a given, but even she can’t work re-animate a movie that died noisily only a few scenes after it started.
’The whole movie plays like someone stuffed scenes into a piñata, bashed it open and then filmed them as they fell to the ground in random order. Surreal? More like annoying to the max and stupendously stupid.
Whatever possibilities “Other Mommy” might once have had for psychological terror evaporate into incoherence, leaving a few good actors with expressions that translate into WTF. Why “Other Mommy” was filmed in Dublin, Ireland, I have no idea. I also have no clue why audiences would line up to witness such an unholy mess. Bela, you were right refusing to let Other Mommy into your heart. She’s already out of my head. Poof. Never going back.