Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey just hit theaters, and it’s already breaking records. Despite the love for this new epic, some viewers walked away talking more about the Other Mommy trailer that came before the film. Directed by Rob Savage (Host), from a script by Nathan Elston (Succession), the movie is an adaptation of Josh Malerman’s (Bird Box) 2024 novel Incidents Around the House.
Yesterday, Universal did a wide release of the trailer, so now everyone can be creeped out.
Its story centers around Bela, an 8-year-old, whose parents are having serious marital problems. Soon, an entity emerges from her closet who takes the form of her mother, or “Other Mommy,” as she calls it. The creature’s existence initially stays between them until the entity gets more aggressive about Bela letting them into her heart.
The first trailer for the film conveys this plot fairly well. It shows Bella (Arabella Olivia Clark) speaking with who she thinks is her mom (Jessica Chastain) about lunch. As her behavior gets more erratic, Bella soon realizes that Other Mommy has broken their pact and not only left her room but also gone outside.
That’s when her father (Jay Duplass) walks in to deal with a fire that has been started by the entity trying to prepare lunch. He scolds Bela for seemingly cooking alone. It’s not until he looks under the table and sees a twisted-up figure that looks like his wife that he realizes something is very wrong.
Frightfully Well Done
That jump scare towards the end of the rough 2-minute trailer is what has audiences reeling. The funny part is, it also highlights one of the things readers love about Incidents Around the House. A lot of horror novels and films like this spend a bulk of their narrative with one or possibly a few characters trying to convince everyone else that something sinister is happening.
Incidents doesn’t do that; while yes, there is some disbelief about “Other Mommy” since it is a far-fetched idea. The entity shows itself to Bela’s parent soon enough that they believe her pretty quickly. Allowing most of the plot to center around a troubled family coming together to defeat the malicious presence. It seems like the film adaptation will do that as well because that visual of her under the table is pretty hard to deny.
The cast for the film also includes Dichen Lachman (Severance), Arian Moayed (Succession), and Karen Allen (Indiana Jones). Chastain will play a dual role as Bela’s mommy and the malicious creature.
Other Mommy hits theaters on October 9, 2026. You can check out the trailer that startled audiences below:
