Whenever a movie becomes not just a blockbuster but a viral sensation, you can expect creators on similar projects to start name-dropping it to get audiences excited about what could be the next big thing. The director of Insidious: Out of the Further recently drew a parallel between his movie and Backrooms. And now the year’s other smash horror hit, Obsession, is getting a nod from the director of the upcoming Other Mommy.
We were already very intrigued by Other Mommy based on its genuinely terrifying trailer, not to mention that it stars Oscar winner Jessica Chastain, is directed by Rob Savage (The Boogeyman, Dashcam, Host), and is adapted from the novel Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman, who also wrote Bird Box. But Savage likening his film to Obsession just makes it all the more intriguing.
The comparison comes from the fact that Chastain, whose previous horror credits include Mama, Crimson Peak, and It: Chapter Two, plays a challenging dual role in Other Mommy. She’s both the actual mother of the movie’s young protagonist and an identical-looking supernatural entity that would dearly love to enter the human world. Obsession‘s Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette, is just one body with two battling personalities inside, but the comparison makes sense.
Savage explained more in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“It’s evident from movies like Obsession where you’ve got Inde Navarrette basically being the MVP that holds your attention throughout all of it, beyond all the special effects, beyond all the gore,” he said.
“The thing that’s so amazing about what Jessica’s allowed to do in this movie and is given space to do in this movie is that her performance really holds that space and is allowed to be the special effect, is allowed to play the horror. And between action and cut, she’s doing such phenomenal work.”
With Sinners‘ Michael B. Jordan and Weapons‘ Amy Madigan reminding Oscar voters that performances in horror movies are just as worthy of recognition as any other genre, here’s hoping films like Other Mommy—and Obsession, with Navarrette’s ferocious turn already getting awards buzz—will keep that momentum going. Other Mommy hits theaters October 9.
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