I SAW OTHER MOMMY

Blumhouse's Other Mommy, directed by Rob (Host/Boogeyman 2024) Savage and scripted by Nathan Elston, based on Josh Malerman's novel, Incidents Around the House, is the tale of Bela, an impressionable, eight-year-old who's beguiled by a shapeshifting, dimensional-drifting dreamweaver that adapts her mother's guise. The clammy entity just wants to keep the poor girl close by, in light of her parents' subtle, martial rift. To do so, the cooing thing asks, "Can I go inside your heart?," which sounds sweet, like something Irena's spirit might ask little Ann in Curse of the Cat People, but this faux mommy holds an ulterior motive.

Bela is played by Arabella Olivia Clark, who does a tip-top job as the lead, though her time is shared with the expressive and nuanced Jessica Chastain, who (for the sake of record) faced a comparable scenario in Andy Machietti's Mama, and who, in this new-fangled instance, plays both the real mommy, Ursula, and the unearthly thing that haunts them. To round out the imperiled clan, Jay Duplass portrays Russell, Bela's "Daddo," and imagi-genre veteran Karen Allen plays Ruth, her paranormal-leaning grandma. (Also on board are Arian Moayed as Uncle Frank, Sean Kaufman as babysitter Kelvin and Dichen Lachman as Lois, leader of a supernatural, investigative team.) 

As the tale progresses, Bela realizes that the entity aims to harm her parents, but how will she break its hold? In that lies the rub. At first, Bela thinks that appeasing the demon will make the situation better, but bullies are rarely pleased, and the unearthly sort are no exception. In fact, as Other Mommy demonstrates, they're far worse. 

Bela's plight grazes both that of Pennywise and the kids who dare to fight back and the old, Nancy-vs-Freddy, Elm Street scenario. It's a matter of a courageous girl facing her fears (shedding her hindering innocence) to bring her monster down. The situation wouldn't be an easy one for anyone, but that young Bela tries is inspirational, considering how in current real-life so many are apt to let bad conquer good and then call it a day. 

For the sake of its aesthetic form, Other Mommy is well paced, gloomy yet enchanting and sparks a number of spinetingling scares (the ball-pit sequence is a demented doozie), thanks in huge part to Christain's quirky, doppelganger half. It's reminiscent of Alyssa Sutherland's possessed Ellie in Evil Dead Rise, though with a build-up that's understated before it explodes. 

I found this quite an entertaining entry, and an ideal one for Halloween. Give it a view. I'm confident you won't be let down. In fact, you're apt to thank the filmmakers for the creepy chills it churns.