Other Mommy (review)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 12 October 2026

Get ready to get scared by this supernatural and psychological horror film.

Seven-year-old Bela is frequently visited by an entity in the appearance of her mother, who Bela calls Other Mommy, that repeatedly asks to enter the young girl’s heart. When its appearances turn nasty, Bela and her parents Ursula and Russ attempt to outrun it, leading to a family secret coming to light.

One thing can be guaranteed with this film: it is scary. Violence and gore feature at the hands of Other Mommy’s violent killings, most notably Frank’s graphic death.

Despite this, Other Mommy is somewhat a poor name for such a terrifying creature and something more sinister would have been better suited.

The reveal sees Ursula admit that she did not want to be a parent, feeling like she would lose her freedom in life, and that Russ is not her biological father, but rather her first husband is. This poses the suggestion that Other Mommy is perhaps the soul of a prior aborted child of Ursula, which would explain why it is seeking a human host and why it is specifically targeting Bela while being an innovative and daring revelation. Unfortunately, this does not prove to be the case and it does not explain why this entity exists, why it targets Bela in particular nor why it requires permission when it is already a powerful supernatural being.

However, the film does at least avoid the trope of the protagonist failing to be believed by everyone around them as Bela’s parents are also aware of Other Mommy from early on.

Furthermore, Jessica Chastain gives a haunting performance as the nightmarish creature, while Arabella Olivia Clark deserves praise for conveying such emotion, particularly fear, when she is just a young child herself.

With Other Mommy defeated by Bela’s repeated rejection of its request, family life returns to normal, yet Bela can sense her mother’s unhappiness. This creates a thought-provoking ending, though the recurring theme of discontentment within family life feels pointless in relation to the story.

Other Mommy is undoubtedly a scary horror film, but suffers at the hands of its average plot, which wasted potential for it to have been something much better.

7/10