Blumhouse’s 2026 horror season ends in disappointment after Other Mommy flops with critics and audiences alike—despite strong box office projections and viral marketing.
Universal’s 2026 horror slate ends not with a bang, but with a groan. Other Mommy, the latest Blumhouse entry starring Jessica Chastain as a doppelgänger haunting a suburban family, has landed with a thud — 46% on Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score, 18% among critics, and a trail of disappointed viewers in its wake. The film, based on Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House, was hyped hard: viral trailers promised jump scares, especially one where Chastain’s eerie twin lurked under a kitchen table.
That moment alone became a meme. But the movie? Not so much. No pre-release screenings for critics.
That’s rare even for a Blumhouse title. When reviews finally dropped, they were scathing, on pacing, on effects, on emotional weight. Director Rob Savage, who once claimed there were 50 jump scares, now faces his lowest audience score yet. Worse still, it’s the second-worst for any Blumhouse film this year, trailing only Strung at 43%.
The irony? The movie might’ve made money anyway. With a $19M budget, it’s projected to gross $28M domestically over opening weekend. Beating Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning.
It outperformed Insidious: Out of the Further ($25.1M) and even Obsession ($17.2M). So the numbers don’t lie. But the sentiment does. Some fans are embracing it as a cult disaster, “so-bad-it’s-good” energy is already trending.
Others are calling it a hollow shell of a horror, a genre that thrives on tension, not just cheap shocks. And while Chastain’s performance holds up, it’s not enough to save a script that rushes through its own premise. Blumhouse’s 2026 run isn’t dead. Just bruised.
Universal still has Focker-in-Law and Violent Night 2 to salvage the year. But for the studio’s horror arm, the momentum’s stalled. Next year, though, they’re back with Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: Martyrs, River, and Paranormal Activity. Plus, Curry Barker’s Anything but Ghosts arrives in May 2027.
For now, the real question isn’t whether Other Mommy will be remembered. It’s whether audiences will keep showing up when the next Blumhouse scare comes knocking. And if the trailers are any indication, they’ll be watching. Just not necessarily to scream.
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