Based on Josh Malerman’s acclaimed novel “Incidents Around the House,” Other Mommy is the latest collaboration between horror powerhouse James Wan and director Rob Savage follows young Bela, whose seemingly ordinary family life is disrupted by a sinister entity that looks exactly like her mother. Starring Jessica Chastain in a remarkable dual role, the film promises psychological horror that trades cheap shocks for creeping uncertainty, asking audiences to constantly question who – and what – they can trust.
Following the release of the film’s unnerving first trailer, Peter Gray spoke with Savage and Wan to unpack the delicate balance between mystery and revelation, why a single unforgettable image can inspire an entire film, the extraordinary precision Chastain brought to playing two versions of the same character, and why the most effective horror stories are ultimately built not on monsters, but on the emotional fractures that exist within every family.
I’m so excited to chat about this movie. First of all, I want to say that 87-second mark in the trailer…that was an image I wasn’t expecting! So, thank you for that.
Rob Savage: Yeah, you won’t be forgetting that anytime soon.
I love that the trailer sort of makes this promise to the audience without actually explaining the rules of what’s happening. I feel like horror has this fascinating relationship with withholding information. How do the two of you decide when mystery is intriguing and when it simply becomes frustrating? Where’s that invisible line for both of you?
Rob Savage: It’s always the last thing you’re tweaking in a movie. It’s (asking) how much to reveal. The audience always wants more, and then you give them too much and they say, “Oh, well, now this isn’t scary anymore because I know too much.” The great thing with this movie is it’s all told predominantly from the perspective of Bela, who’s this seven-year-old girl, and her understanding of the world is a little bit more porous than an adult perspective is. She’s the one the other mommy is targeting, who the other mommy is trying to manipulate, so we’re getting filtered through her understanding of these very manipulative whisperings of other mommy.
It gives you an excuse to just give enough that the audience leans in. You understand that the kind of ride of the movie makes sense, but there’s still plenty for your mind to tick over when you’re going home and you’re switching off all the lights.
James Wan: I do think it also depends on what kind of horror it is, right? There are a lot of horror movies that refuse to give you any hint of what movie they’re trying to convey across. It’s really about finding that fine line of wanting to give you enough, but then you also want to hold back enough to keep it mysterious and get people leaning into the story and wanting to find out more. Any kind of movie of this ilk, it’s about peeling back the layers of the onion, right? It’s got layers to it, and I think that’s what’s made this movie really fun as well.
As I mentioned that moment in the trailer where I feel everything kind of amps up, it reminded me that horror isn’t always about monsters or gore. It’s about one unforgettable visual. Have either of you chased a film simply because you had one image in your head that you couldn’t let go of?
James Wan: I’d be lying if I said no. So, yes.
Rob Savage: Yeah, well kind of this one. I read the book (“Incidents Around the House”), which the guys at Atomic Monster sent over to me. I knew (author) Josh Malerman’s work. I knew “Bird Box”, and reading it there’s a version of this kitchen scene you see in the trailer that plays in the book very early on. It’s the first time you really get to see the Other Mommy character, and just the idea of playing a scale like that in broad daylight in such a domestic space…you know, making sandwiches at the breakfast nook, and suddenly you have this scene of absolute horror. It’s such an interesting juxtaposition. I can really do something with that and what that sets up in terms of disrupting the usual horror rhythms. You normally expect things to happen in certain places at certain junctures in the movie, and in this movie – like the book – kind of upends that at every turn. The book is really about, “If this happened to your kid, your family, what would you do?” What recourse do you have in the real world. Not in the movie world. I just thought that was a great place to kick off a movie.
And Jessica Chastain…she looks incredible in this. It’s not that she’s just playing two characters, it’s that the trailer is suggesting that we are constantly questioning which version we’re looking at. What was the biggest challenge in getting those performances right? Or making sure the audience trusted and then distrusted the right person at the right time?
Rob Savage: The great thing about Jessica is she is an absolute horror fan, and she completely understands the assignment. She knows exactly what you’re doing. You can go up to her and say, “Well, we need the audience to feel this. We want them to think that you’re the mother character, but just give us like 5% distrust. Give us 5% other mommy so the audience will lean forward.” She’s like, “Okay, watch this,” and you’ll be looking at the monitor and she’s got it. She’s able to just achieve that technicality that horror needs, whilst at the same time giving this really raw, emotional performance, both as other mommy and as Ursula, the mother character. It’s an incredibly emotional movie, as well as a terrifying one. Being able to switch between those two modes so seamlessly was when we knew the movie was going to work.
James Wan: Yeah, Jessica Chastain’s really the secret weapon. The secret sauce to this movie. It would not work as well as it does if it were not for her, and it’s truly not your typical slasher/horror villain movie. So much of what makes this movie work is what she brings to the table. As you were saying, Peter, it’s part of the fun in watching this film and asking, “Is this the good Jessica Chastain or is this the demonic Jessica Chastain?” You’re never quite sure which is which, and that’s part of the fun.
Even more deceiving is the fact that Rob made this movie through the perspective of the little girl, and watching it through this young, innocent kid’s perspective you’re never sure which mother it is. But what makes it fun is that the other mommy always just goes one step too far into fantastical territory, and that’s when it breaks the reality and the audience realises, “Oh, this isn’t the good mother.”
As you said, there’s a lot of fun to be had, but the film also seems strangely sad. Do you think horror works best when the audience is emotionally vulnerable before they’re scared?
Rob Savage: I think horror is so great at speaking to things we don’t want to talk about. There’s a lot under the surface of every family and every family relationship, and that’s kind of what is unique about this villain is that she’s got this emotional component to her. She’s trying to befriend Bela. She’s trying to be a friend and find out things about her parents and that her home life is less than perfect. Bela’s at that age where she’s starting to realise that her parents are flawed human beings. Lo and behold, you have other mommy presenting as this perfect, if slightly sinister version of her own mother. It draws a parallel between that phase in her life when she’s starting to see those cracks appear. That’s exactly where other mommy kind of worms her way in.
James Wan: Yeah, horror works best when you can relate with the people that you’re watching. That’s the bottom line. And that to me is the best version, or at least that’s the kind of horror that I like. I watch people on screen and think, “I get that family dynamic. I get what the parents are going through. I know what the kids are going through.” You see yourself in their shoes. I think that’s the type of horror that is most effective because you can just see yourself in that predicament, and it goes a long way towards helping those scary moments scary.
Other Mommy is scheduled for release in Australian theatres from October 8th, 2026.
