Other review
The director of one of last year’s best movies is back with something…different.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Other
Directed by David Moreau
Screenplay by David Moreau
Starring Olga Kurylenko
Other Review
It’s been a tough year for Shudder Originals. We’ve made no bones about that while reviewing the new exclusive movies added to the service (and undeservedly released in theaters). They got back on track this month with V/H/S/Halloween…the latest installment of a franchise that has become a safe quality bet for the streaming service. Just two weeks later we’re back into a bit of troubled territory. This time, however, it isn’t really Shudder’s fault. On paper…Other should be one of the highlights of their year. It comes from the director of one of their best movies of 2024…and, unlike many of its new releases, it debuted directly on the service. It’s completely understandable that Shudder would pick Other as an Original for their brand. It just didn’t work out very well.
David Moreau may not be a name that immediately jumps off the page. Unless you’ve seen last year’s Scare Value Top Ten selection MadS. Then you’ve probably thought about him a lot. Or, at least, his breakout movie. MadS is a wildly entertaining time. A non-stop thrill to experience. Moreau was nominated for Best Director in our annual awards. The film also picked up a nomination for Best Actress. While it didn’t pull down one of the five slots for Best Picture…it didn’t miss by much. MadS, like Other, is a Shudder Original. You can, and should, head to the service and watch it as soon as you can. It’s a great movie. So great, in fact, that news of Moreau’s next picture debuting on Shudder was an exciting prospect. On paper. The problem with things looking good on paper is that they don’t always stay that way.
Now…not every movie needs to be compared to the best part of a director’s filmography. But part of what makes Other so interesting is how different it is from MadS. It’s understandable…MadS is a one of a kind movie…and filmmakers don’t like to repeat themselves. Watching Other, however, will give you a lot of time to wonder if there wasn’t a point between these two extremes that would have made for a more entertaining movie. Put bluntly…the first hour of Other is boring. There are some light mystery moments trying to hook you…but they’re spread over so much space where nothing really happens that their quest is an uphill battle. Where MadS runs…Other crawls.
Alice (Kurylenko) returns to her childhood home following the death of her mother. We see her mother’s fate in the film’s opening scene. She’s wearing a strange mask in the woods near her home when…something…happens. It leaves her without much of a face. Alice is alone throughout most of Other. Kurylenko gets to have some fun with the assignment. Viewers don’t have enough to justify the feature length of the picture. Basically, there’s something out there. A woman (also in a mask) warns Alice not to show it her face. There’s surveillance equipment and a bunker and it ties into her family. That sounds like a mystery worth investing in, right? Now imagine that sentence slowly doled out over the course of an hour. It’s not as interesting, is it?
Things do pick up. All the little hints are leading somewhere. Whether or not it’s somewhere that people will be happy with is up to the individual viewer. By the time the third act kicks into gear…you’ll likely be happy that Other has started moving in any direction. I found the climax exciting but a bit too loose for it to truly stick a meaningful landing. Maybe you’ll like it better. Maybe you won’t.
Pacing, as you may expect, is an issue. Things unfold too slowly and then stuff starts getting thrown at you very quickly. I can appreciate the attempt at creating a whiplash effect…but the slow is too slow and the fast is too unwieldy to ever properly grab a hold of. MadS picks a lane (the fast one) and stays in it. Other switches gears without properly applying the clutch…sputtering into a ditch. I don’t actually know how manual transmissions work, but that analogy feels right to me.
Perhaps the strangest difference between MadS and Other is how the one that screams “experimental” (MadS) feels far more refined than the one that appears polished. Other isn’t what you’d expect as the follow up to MadS. Which could have been a good thing if it offered something new or surprising. Instead, Other offers a bland trip with an engaging lead to a place that probably isn’t as magnetic as Moreau hoped it would be. The good news is that you can watch his best movie if you scroll a little past this one.
Scare Value
Where MadS soared as an intense, unstoppable thrill ride…Other limps along slowly. The change-up is shocking. It’s also not for the better. Olga Kurylenko can use it to make a nice reel…but that’s all that is really here. At least, that is, until the third act. Other finally allows itself to go a little crazy. It’s too late and too silly…but it’s at least something. And something is definitely better than the next to nothing that preceded it.
2/5
Other Link
Streaming on Shudder
