Sometimes hype starts straight out of theaters, not online.
Case in point: audiences have been buzzing after seeing the trailer for Universal Pictures’ “Other Mommy” in front of “The Odyssey” this weekend, and I think we might be looking at a surprise horror hit.
The trailer has now been released online, and with that will come even more chatter about the film, directed by Rob Savage, who helmed the nifty pandemic-era “Host.”
The trailer opens with a young girl sneaking ice cream for lunch, only to be caught when her mother, played by Jessica Chastain, walks in. The two share a lighthearted exchange about what she should really be eating, but the mood gradually begins to shift. Mommy starts asking increasingly unsettling questions, including whether her daughter remembers where she came from. I’ll leave the rest for you to discover.
Honestly, I’m not surprised Savage might have a hit on his hands here. “Host” was killer good—a 2020 British found-footage horror film that was shot while quarantine restrictions were in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Savage had to direct the actors remotely while they set up their own cameras, lighting, and stunts. The practical effects were also handled by the actors, and a virtual workshop was held to teach them how to create effects such as “moving doors” and “making things fly off shelves.”
As for Chastain, she’s a great actress and an Oscar winner whose last two films were with Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco (“Memory,” “Dreams”). She’s now returning to major studio territory. She has only dabbled in horror a handful of times, most notably with “Mama,” “Crimson Peak,” and “It: Chapter Two.”
The film is currently scheduled to open in theaters on October 9.
It gives me no pleasure to report that this is one of the worst films of Schrader’s career. Wooden acting, Jack Huston and Sofia Boutella are badly miscast, the script is dull, the photography is flat; nothing works.