My quick rating – 5.4/10. “A chance to be human, the miracle which we mistake for the ordinary, is coveted by gods and demons alike.” We kick things off with this rather profound, made up quote from Aynar of Erebus. The fade-out focusing on the word human is a bit telling, although I’m not entirely sure Other Mommy needed the dramatic reminder.
We then jump to an upbeat dance number in bed with Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) and her Daddo, played by Jay Duplass. Of course, Mom has to break that up because it’s bedtime and all. That does leave Bela alone to wish her “other mommy” goodnight as well. Nothing particularly unusual about that, right? It doesn’t take long before we get to see this other mommy, and damn is she creepy.
Things then go completely off the rails when Daddo is also introduced to the unwanted houseguest. I hadn’t even realized the title card hadn’t appeared yet, but it finally arrives thumping away during their introduction. A little late to the party, but at least it made an entrance. Police are called and, naturally, actual Mommy’s first question is whether Daddo was stoned. LOL.
Having never read the novel by Josh Malerman, it’s possible there’s something a bit more personal to this story than simply a mean old ghost popping out of the closet. I won’t elaborate because that would be getting into spoiler territory.
There are some good visuals and nice camera shots, and the CGI does a pretty decent job of delivering some creepy, Japanese-inspired horror imagery. That ghost-hunting scene at Grandma’s place, however, was about as hokey as those paranormal investigation shows where every creak in the floorboards proves the devil lives in the attic. I half expected someone to start waving an EMF detector around and declaring the place possessed.
There are some good ideas in here that just don’t always hit the mark. The occasional digital gore shots aren’t particularly convincing either, although the overall visual presentation is quite good.
Speaking of that entity, the filmmakers seem a little unsure about exactly what powers it has. Apparently, the answer is virtually anything the current scene requires. I’m not sure they ever settled on what Other Mommy actually is, how it interacts with the adult world, or even what its relationship with Bela is supposed to be.
I think the movie is a little too unsure about whether it wants to go full horror, coming-of-age drama or some sort of YA fantasy flick. It has elements of all three but never quite commits to any of them.
Not a bad movie by any stretch, just one that had the ingredients to be considerably better than it turned out. A little more direction and a little less supernatural improvisation wouldn’t have gone a long way.
