Other

Other flirts a little with the killer house sub-genre when Alice (Olga Kurylenko) arrives to after the death of her estranged mother. The security of the place frustrates her to such an extent that she virtually destroys the control tablet. She doesn’t have any great interest in the property and just wants the coroner to release her mother’s body for the funeral.

However Other settles down to a yarn about Alice and her mother with her impossible expectations for both. This the viewer learns through Alice viewing her old tapes with her mother pushing her with an obsession bordering on mania.

Meanwhile there is something going at the house with Alice confronting masked bike riders warning her not to show her face. There’s also a drone flying over what could be described as a compound rather than a home.

To add to the psychological elements there’s a bit of a monster on the loose element with a shadowy creature appearing around the house and grounds.

Directed by David Moreau and co-written with Jon Goldman, they have plenty of ideas. There are ideas about obsession, beauty, childhood bullying, high tech, possibly a monster and drugs. There’s a lot going on yet Other doesn’t get into gear at any point in the film.

It looks drawn out and appears cobbled together however slick the direction may appear. Also there’s a lot of pressure Kurylenko who carries the film virtually on her own, and the only one whose face is seen clearly throughout. She does a reasonable job but it is asking a lot not to mention there are other personal elements that Alice has on her mind not just the house and dead mother.

As such it’s a frustrating watch at times frantic, at times building tension, others wilfully slow, trying eek weirdness out of what is a highly stylised film. But then what would you expect from the director of the excellent MadS.

Other will be on Shudder from 17 October 2025