***Horror Joy Fresh Cut: Other Mommy
Summary
From an AMC parking lot in Central Pennsylvania, Brian offers an immediate take on Other Mommy (a James Wan-produced Blumhouse/Atomic Monster film, retitled from Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House) with mixed expectations due to the cast (Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass, and child actor Arabella Clarke) and skepticism toward Blumhouse style.
Brian praises the acting—especially Clarke’s balance of innocence and fear and Chastain’s multiple character work—but argues that the film becomes a jump-scare mechanism that breaks suspension of disbelief, particularly in act two, as parents repeatedly leave a threatened child alone.
While the first act’s setup and monster intrigue work, the mythology feels mishandled, the characters’ “conversion” to the supernatural happens too early, and by the third act the monster and logic feel silly; they also note an “icky” use of Dichen Lachman and faint anti-abortion undertones, though a ball-pit sequence effectively taps parental anxiety.
Check out our other Fresh Cut Episodes wherever you get podcasts
Straight White American Jesus
The flagship show examining Christian nationalism and democracy.
Listen Now
Axis Mundi Daily Brief
Short, focused analyses of the most important daily developments in religion and politics.
Listen Now
