Take 91: Other Mommy
“A chance to be human— the miracle that we mistake for the ordinary— is coveted by gods and demons alike.”
With this opening quote, the stage is set. Other Mommy is psychological thriller where an evil trickster spirit tries to manipulate a little girl into letting it into her heart so that it may gain human form. Arabella Olivia Clark is Bela the little girl. Jessica Chastain does double duty as Bela’s mother, Ursula and the “Other Mother” that the trickster often impersonates (among others.) Rounding out the core cast is Jay Duplass as Bela’s father, Daddo (yeah, that’s who the character is listed on IMDB. I know…) who, along with his wife share a secret that Is the root cause of Other Mother being able to enter their lives in the first place.
After my last two movies, I was looking for something different. That is exactly what I got with this one. I had forgotten that we didn’t get a title credit on the screen until a few minutes in when we do, and is it effective. It happens at a moment that’s pretty intense, it establishes a tone, and reveals something that we don’t often see in films like this. The supernatural threat is addressed head on. So often, we the audience would know that whatever is going on between the little girl and this “Other Mother” isn’t right, and for the majority of the movie is a deadly secret but Daddo is looped in instantly. He then tells Real Mother so that with the cat out of the bag, the normal tropes are out the window. So refreshing. That weird thing that we think we see fluttering across the screen quickly, that we thought we might have seen for a split second in a dark corner, oh yeah, it’s really there and for some reason, it looks just like Ursula. It’s out in the open and we spend the rest of the movie dealing with it. As the story progresses, other people are looped in and it’s clear that some weird stuff is happening, so our main characters are left just looking crazy. They have plenty of witnesses. They might be confused witnesses, but their sanity it never brought into question which never happens.
The acting was really, really good. Hats off to Jessica Chastain. I remember all the hype around her a few years ago. It has seemed to die down in recent years, but she reminds you here that she she STILL that chick. She’s creepy. She can turn if off and on in a snap and appears to manunfacture tears on command. She really does seem crazed when she needs to. Arabella Olivia Clark is just as much the anchor here. She reminds me of what a kid Brtitany Spears would have looked like (and yes, I am sure that there is probably tons of accessible footage out there to corroborate, but not necessary.) She’s up to the part and doesn’t fall into the trap that a lot of child actors have the potential of falling into— she’s NOT annoying. Finally, Jay Duplass. Even though he gets the least to do as far as range, he still manages to convincingly play the role of just being a good guy. His in the character that never waivers and his portrayal is just comforting.
This one is only an hour and 33 so it doesn’t really have a a lot of time to waste. It does a pretty good job of staying focused and tight, but because of the short runtime, it leaves a lot of things unanswered. A few points could have definitely benefited from more time, but I get it. Visually, they do a lot of cool stuff. It looks pretty darn good. I was impressed by the effects. There is a thin line between reality and imagination in the story and the visuals play in to this nicely. I will say however, as much as I did enjoy the aesthetic, the couple of jump scares scattered here and there all fell flat for me. There was never a moment that really surprised me, but there are a couple of gory moments that earn this movie its rating.
There weren’t many people in the theater, like maybe six other people. The couple on my left really seemed to like it. I overheard one of the people in the couple next to me utter “that was a terrible decision.” I fall more toward that former. I definitely liked it more than I didn’t. I definitely still had questions by the end. I could have done without the ending which was then reinforced by a final after-credit scene. It could have been a self-contained, done-in-one, but they are clearly thinking ahead to a sequel. I don’t think this is blowing it away at the box office, so maybe there won’t be one and I will get my wish and this can just be it. That said, I enjoyed it enough that I’d be okay for a sequel should it come.
I just don’t need it.
My score: 7.9
Can you be the Other take? If so, leave it in the comments. And until next time…
