Other Mommy: Jessica Chastain Horror Kept From Critics Lands as Muddle

Universal hid Other Mommy, the Jessica Chastain demonic-double horror, from critics until its opening day — and the result, per the Guardian's review, is "less of a one-star train wreck and more of a two-star mess, likely to frustrate rather than enrage."

The film rode into theatres on one of the strangest marketing runs of the season. Its limb-bending trailer went viral before Halloween, generating more than 30 million views on the official YouTube channel. Screen grabs from the clip became memes. BuzzFeed ran the distinctly BuzzFeed headline: "The Lady Sitting Next To Me SCREAMED": This Trailer Playing Before The Odyssey Is Scaring Moviegoers, And These Hilarious Reactions Have Me Crying.

Why did the trailer play before The Odyssey?

Universal released the trailer exclusively attached to the second biggest film of the year, a placement the Guardian credits as "a considerable part" of the buzz. But the imagery itself, the review concedes, "was efficiently direct and frightening" — a derivative scared-child/creepy-demon set-up "turned into something that felt hard to deny and increasingly impossible to avoid."

A second trailer followed. It did not break the internet in the same way.

What does the critics-free release signal?

The reviews never appeared before opening. Universal's strategic decision to withhold the film from critics until release day typically implies disaster — a way, the Guardian notes, of keeping pre-ticket sales high and bad reviews at bay. The gamble appears justified commercially: Other Mommy is predicted to win its opening weekend with $20m-plus.

Critically, the calculation was half right. The Guardian's verdict finds "some effectively unnerving imagery and a cleverly icy dual lead performance" from Chastain, who plays both mother and demonic double. But the film as a whole is "a bit of a jumble" — and, crucially, the horror "isn't nightmarish enough."