Jessica Chastain as Other Mommy in Other Mommy, directed by Rob Savage.
There’s a sentiment I’m going to share that I’m certain any film buff reading this will understand: I love actresses. The performances, the glitz and glamour, all of it. It’s not quite parasocial, but there’s something about actresses that captivates me. I love seeing them stun. Win awards. Weep and scream and act. Few privileges are quite as rewarding as seeing good acting (and that’s why, despite my grievances, I’m so grateful to Obsession for introducing us to Inde Navarette).
Of course, that’s not limited to just Certified Cinephiles. The horror genre especially embraces women like few others. Sure, it’s not perfect, but we have our icons, our scream queens, our fans reasonably obsessed with I Know What You Did Last Summer. There are genre stalwarts, and we love them, but when it comes to A-listers (those performers with the highest commercial viability), the trajectory is often as follows: Start in horror, win an Academy Award, and move on. In some circles, horror is cheap – low-effort cinema that springboards careers rather than sustaining them.
It’s why, small as it might seem, it’s pretty remarkable to see the additional ramifications of horror’s post-2020 upswing, namely with regard to Jessica Chastain and Other Mommy. Chastain, who won an Academy Award in 2022 for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, is one of horror’s secret weapons. An acclaimed, certified A-lister who remains committed to some of the genre’s most daring, exciting projects.
While not a perfect comparison, this decade’s slate of Best Actress Oscar winners includes few certified horror buffs. Mikey Madison had Scream, sure (but that was pre-win). Emma Stone goes adjacent, but never full horror. Michelle Yeoh is much the same. Cate Blanchett has never been in a genuine horror movie, and neither has Frances McDormand or Meryl Streep. Jennifer Lawrence did Mother!, but audience reactions might have scared her away from horror for good.
Jessica Chastain doesn’t just embrace the genre, but she lends her inimitable talent to some of the most daring—and enduring—horror movies of the generation. I’ve read Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House, so I’m as confident as can be that it’s going to be seriously scary. That is to say nothing of Chastain’s other forays into the genre, so here we’ll be looking at her history in the genre and why she remains one of the genre’s secret weapons.
Mama
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
In Andy Muschietti’s Mama, Chastain flexed her serious horror muscles. She’d already been nominated for two Academy Awards by this point in her career, and Mama was the A-lister’s first foray into explicit genre filmmaking. While she’d co-starred in both Take Shelter (so, so excellent) and Texas Killing Fields before, Mama was certified mainstream terror.
And while Mama launched Muschietti’s career (and Chastain would collaborate with him again), the actress is the best thing about it. Bucking maternal convention, Chastain is gritty, punk, and wholly uninterested in being a mother. Sure, the script eventually aligns her with hegemonic, motherly instincts, but Chastain always elevates the familiar material. It’s not just a good performance in a horror movie – it’s an incredible performance, period.
Crimson Peak
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Crimson Peak hive, rise up! I’m an avid, unequivocal fan of Guillermo del Toro’s take on traditional Gothic horror, and I think the biggest contributor to the polarizing reception largely had to do with a disinterest in accepting the movie on del Toro’s terms. It’s nuanced, but we should take and evaluate movies as what they are, not what we, individually, wish they had been. Narratively, no, Crimson Peak doesn’t do a single thing anyone even remotely familiar with Gothic horror hasn’t seen before. Every ostensible twist and plot beat is so glaringly obvious, even a comatose audience could tell you that B comes after A, followed by C, onward with 100% accuracy.
But guess what? Crimson Peak is also dripping with a sensual Gothic aesthetic. The director’s trademarked, tactile ghosts are better than ever, oozing blood and crimson, and the set design and costuming are the best work in a century from everyone involved. And, of course, Jessica Chastain hams it up as an evil sister murdering brides and stealing their wealth. ‘Ham’ maybe even isn’t appropriate to use there. Ham is easy. What Chastain accomplishes is anything but. She’s icy, insidious, seductive, and perfectly aligned with del Toro’s fairy tale sensibilities. There’s a version of Crimson Peak I love a lot less, and it’s any rendition that doesn’t have Chastain floating down the stairs drenched in blood.
It Chapter Two
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Fan casting: how I both love and loathe you. In the case of It: Chapter Two, at least, I lean toward love. Muschietti’s follow-up to It: Chapter One (still the highest-grossing horror movie ever made) was hotly anticipated, especially for its casting announcements. Unlike Tommy Lee Wallace’s miniseries, Muschietti eschewed the dual timelines for a cleaner split between the adolescent and adult Losers. And while It: Chapter One hasn’t aged all that gracefully (sorry…), it remains a showcase for some of the most remarkable child performances of all time. The adults had big shoes, metaphorically speaking, to fill.
Leading up to the formal casting announcement, Chastain was top of mind to take over for Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh. Now, in fairness (hence the loathing of fan casting), most everyone fan-cast Chastain because of her looks, whether she was otherwise suited for the role or not. It’s serendipitous, then, that Chastain was not only an excellent match physically for Lillis, but a damned good—perhaps generational—talent to boot.
Beverly is the character I’ve always resonated with the most in King’s source material and the two film adaptations, and Chastain’s innate, understated gravitas was a perfect fit. She captured the terror, cowardice, uncertainty, and ultimate commitment to the Losers that make Beverly Marsh such a textured, dimensional character, one who is more than just a vessel for trauma (a regressive trope King can admittedly lean into at times). It: Chapter Two is big, mythic, and unique, and whenever Chastain is on the screen, you can’t help but feel you’re seeing something truly special. That’s the magic of the movies.
Other Mommy
Jessica Chastain as Other Mommy in Other Mommy, directed by Rob Savage.
First, I am begging the internet to let go of the “It should be titled Other Mother” sentiment. Read the book. I promise this isn’t an arbitrary title opposed to alliteration. Otherwise, while I’ve yet to see the film, the second trailer’s capstone of Chastain cackling in the backseat of a car is simply sensational. That moment alone convinces me she’s going to be one helluva monster, and having read the source material, I can only imagine what else she has in store.
While the adaptation looks to depart from the novel in some key ways, those departures do at least look to give Chastain her Lupita Nyong’o moment. Dual roles are never easy, and while it remains to be seen just how Rob Savage directs the distinction between the real and other mommy, I’m certain Chastain has the chops to deliver, keeping us in breathless suspense until the terrifying end.
Raise one up for Jessica Chastain, and be sure to catch Other Mommy in theaters on October 9.
Tags:Crimson Peak IT: Chapter 2 Jessica Chastain Mama other mommy
Categorized:Editorials