Jessica Chastain’s ‘Other Mommy’ is a “hot mess” horror, say early reactions

Jessica Chastain’s new horror Other Mommy has been panned as a “hot mess” by those that have seen it early.

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Based on Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House, Other Mommy follows eight-year-old Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) who is struggling with her parents’ marital issues before her life is disrupted further by a sinister paranormal entity that looks and sounds identical to her mother Ursula (Jessica Chastain).

Director Rob Savage has claimed Other Mommy features at least 50 jump scares across its 80-minute runtime.

Jessica Chastain shows off how she created her creepy smile for ‘OTHER MOMMY’. pic.twitter.com/jPiH1lUFNd

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 8, 2026

Other Mommy is out today (Friday October 9) but the review embargo still hasn’t been lifted. However a number of movie bloggers, international critics and fans have already seen the horror and they’re not impressed.

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“Other Mommy wants to be ‘elevated horror’ but stumbles trying to climb above the better films it’s seeking to be,” wrote Screen Space. “Other Mommy is a hot mess and Jessica Chastain’s worst movie in a long time,” said Global Box Office in their two-and-a-half star review.

“The direction is sloppy, the score is unremarkable, and not even Chastain can save such a terrible screenplay … What should be a straightforward premise is bogged down by cheap melodrama and repetitive, failed jump scares.”

#OtherMommy: Despite that trailer and one surprisingly gory sequence, this INSIDIOUS-lite supernatural “horror” flick is more silly than it is scary. Jessica Chastain commits but that isn’t enough to overcome the stupidity. pic.twitter.com/YIGqErTv6m

— Peter Gray (@ratedPDG) October 8, 2026

“While the technical ambition is evident, the storytelling rarely matches it … even Chastain’s considerable talents can only do so much with material that doesn’t offer her character enough depth beyond her unsettling appearance,” reads a two star review from The AU Review. “What begins with the promise of something genuinely nightmarish gradually deteriorates into a disappointingly conventional, occasionally laughable supernatural exercise.”

However some horror fans are phased by the negative early reviews.

“Look, I know that we’ve been a bit spoiled lately with so many high quality (even academy nominated/winning horror movies), but bad horror movies can still be enjoyable. The worst thing a horror movie can be to me is boring, but I can’t find that out until I watch it myself,” wrote one Reddit user.

“I’m watching for jumpscares and a ridiculous premise,” said another. “Not everything has to be Hereditary. If it entertains me for 90 minutes, then it did its job,” added a third.