Can I Come Inside Your Heart? Other Mommy Brings a New Nightmare to Australian Cinemas

A child's bedroom becomes the doorway to something horrifying in Other Mommy, a new supernatural thriller from Host and The Boogeyman director Rob Savage. Backed by horror heavyweight James Wan, the film is set to arrive in Australian cinemas on October 8, 2026, with Oscar winner Jessica Chastain taking on one of the film's most unsettling roles.

The story centres on Bela, an eight-year-old girl living with her parents as their marriage begins to fall apart. Her already troubled home life takes a terrifying turn when a mysterious entity emerges from her closet.

Bela gives the creature a deceptively innocent name: Other Mommy.

At first, the entity appears to want nothing more than to become part of Bela's world. But its presence soon grows increasingly threatening, and what begins as a strange relationship between a child and an imaginary-looking figure turns into a nightmare for the entire family.

Chastain stars in a dual role, playing both Bela's mother and the sinister entity that takes her appearance. Jay Duplass plays Bela's father, while young Australian actor Arabella Olivia Clark takes on the role of Bela. The cast also includes Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed and Karen Allen.

Directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay by Nathan Elston, Other Mommy is adapted from Josh Malerman's bestselling 2024 novel Incidents Around the House. The film brings together Savage's talent for claustrophobic horror with James Wan's experience producing some of modern cinema's biggest supernatural franchises.

What makes the premise particularly disturbing is the way the supernatural threat becomes entangled with Bela's family life. As Other Mommy's attacks become more intense, the secrets and betrayals surrounding her parents' troubled relationship begin to surface. The horror therefore comes from more than the creature itself — it also exposes the cracks that were already present inside the home.

Australian audiences will be able to see the film exclusively in cinemas from Thursday, October 8, 2026. Event Cinemas, HOYTS, Palace Cinemas and Wallis Entertainment are all currently listing the film for that date, with screenings planned across participating locations around the country.

The Australian Classification Board has rated Other Mommy MA15+ for strong violence, with a runtime of 93 minutes. The classification was issued on September 24, 2026.

For horror fans, the combination of Chastain, Savage and Wan makes Other Mommy one of the more intriguing supernatural releases on Australia's October cinema calendar. The film does not need a sprawling haunted house or an army of monsters to create fear. Instead, it takes one of the safest places imaginable — a child's home — and turns it into something deeply threatening.

And perhaps the most frightening part is that Bela may not be able to tell where her mother ends and Other Mommy begins.

Other Mommy opens in Australian cinemas on October 8, 2026.

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