Other Review: A Film That Works Better As A Psychological Thriller Vs Creature Feature

PLOT: Alice returns to her childhood home after her mother’s death, only to find the house is rigged with surveillance tracking her every move, as a sinister presence lurks, driving her towards a terrifying revelation.

REVIEW: If there’s one thing that’s great for a horror movie, it’s isolation. Putting a character by themselves with little hope for help when they need it is something that is instantly relatable. There’s a palpable tension and is a universal feeling, that immediately asks the question: “What would you do in this situation?” Add in a scary monster that mangles faces, and you’ve got Other, a film that isn’t confident enough in its initial concept to see through to the end.

Olga Kurylenko’s Alice is a former model who clearly had a very traumatic childhood. Returning to her childhood home brings up a slew of distressing memories for her. The death of her mother means more than just dealing with her estate, it’s about dealing with the trauma that she inflicted on her daughter. Those are some of the film’s more interesting moments, as it deals with more psychological horror. One of the more intriguing aspects of the film is how much Alice does not want a kid. What first seems like maybe just a woman who is striving for independence quickly turns into a woman who clearly doesn’t want to mess up a child, like her mother did to her.

But there’s also a monster lurking in the woods and the house that is the more manifested terror of the film. It’s an interesting concept that the monster attacks people’s faces, especially given the whole model and beauty element. And the gore FX are handled quite well and can be rather disturbing. I really just wish that they had avoided the physical being and just stuck with a more psychological gut punch. Once things become more creature feature, it loses most of what it had going for it. And there’s a random side character who doesn’t really make a lot of sense other than for a bit of exposition, which makes the narrative feel a bit lazy.

David Moreau has always been a pretty interesting director, with last year’s zombie film MadS having the unique gimmick of being done in “one take.” Other takes a less extreme approach, but still an interesting one, with Kurylenko being the main face we’re seeing throughout the film. We see many of the other characters through masks or abstract imagery. It’s all done with a purpose, and is honestly not even something I noticed till close to the end. There’s a payoff for all of this, but I’m honestly not sure if it was even something that many viewers will even notice, the monster element overshadows some of the more subtle themes.

I really enjoyed where Other ends up, as silly as it may be, but the concept seems stretched pretty thin. I could see this working much better as a short film, as the material doesn’t seem to warrant a full-length feature. It’s well shot, and I enjoyed the secluded forest setting, but its pacing leaves a lot to be desired. Held up by Kurylenko’s performance, there’s not much else to grasp onto. Especially since the horror itself feels quite sterile outside of some quick jumpscares and “gotcha” moments. This does show that Kurylenko is capable of more than just action roles, and hopefully, she continues to get opportunities within the genre.

Other is Streaming On Shudder on October 17th, 2025.