An 8-year-old girl knows something is wrong with the woman who looks like her mother. She cannot figure out which version of her mother she can trust. Other Mommy turns that confusion into a chilling horror story about a sinister presence that knows exactly how to get close. The first trailer keeps the creature’s true nature just out of reach while making one thing clear: Bela’s home may be the last place she can feel safe.
There’s a New Presence in the House
Other Mommy follows 8-year-old Bela, who lives with her family as her parents deal with marital problems. Her childhood takes a darker turn when a sinister entity emerges from her closet.
Bela calls the presence Other Mommy. At first, the entity looks like another version of her mother, Ursula. That resemblance quickly becomes terrifying.
The trailer shows Other Mommy growing increasingly threatening as she interacts with Bela. She asks the young girl a disturbing question: “Can I go inside your heart?” The footage also blurs the line between Ursula and her sinister double.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Other Mommy adapts Josh Malerman’s 2024 New York Times bestselling novel Incidents Around the House. Rob Savage directs from a screenplay by Nathan Elston. Jay Duplass, Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed and Karen Allen also star. Jessica Chastain plays Ursula, giving the film a recognizable face at the center of its unsettling family story. James Wan produces through Atomic Monster, alongside Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Savage, Josh Malerman and Ryan Lewis as executive producers.
Universal Pictures will release Other Mommy exclusively in theaters on October 9, 2026.
Horror Keeps Filling the 2026 Calendar
Horror has had plenty to offer in 2026. Scream 7, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, Obsession and Passenger have all taken their turn terrifying audiences. Now, Other Mommy adds another nightmare to an already busy year for the genre.
More genre titles are still coming. Resident Evil is scheduled for September, followed by Other Mommy in October. The lineup also gives audiences plenty of variety, from supernatural threats to monsters and returning franchises.
When Home Stops Feeling Safe
“Other Mommy” takes a familiar childhood fear and gives it a deeply personal twist. Bela does not face a monster she can easily separate from her everyday life. She faces something that can look like the person she knows best.
That makes the film’s central question especially unsettling: What happens when you cannot tell whether mom is mom?
With Savage directing and Malerman’s novel providing the source material, “Other Mommy” has plenty working in its favor. But its most unsettling idea remains simple: The person Bela trusts most may be the one she needs to fear.
Would you watch “Other Mommy” in theaters this October?
