Rent Lee Cronin's The Mummy on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Lee Cronin
Directed by: Lee Cronin
Starring: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Verónica Falcón, Hayat Kamille
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them. What should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.
Verdict
It's a pretty typical demon possession tale with this demon being from ancient Egypt. That aspect adds some lore, but this frequently trades creepy or unsettling for outright gross and excessive gore. It's a cheap way to generate a reaction. It also ruins the mood, as I often wanted to look away. Blood and gore is not horror. The conclusion isn't all that interesting, pretty typical like the rest of the movie.
Skip it.
Review
Cronin is best known for Evil Dead Rise (2023), which is a series of gross outs more than a horror movie. The Mummy is only his third film.
The first scene tries to hook us by generating a lot of questions. A family returns home to a dead bird lying in a puddle of black liquid. Then there's a tomb underneath their house, and that's when this really gets wild. What is even happening?
Reporter Charlie (Jack Reynor), his wife Larissa (Laia Costa), and their two kid live in Cairo. His daughter Katie is lured away and kidnapped by the woman from the first scene. It's clear all this relates to the titular mummy, but how?
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| Jack Reynor plays Charlie Cannon |
Eight years later, Charlie and his family live in New Mexico. Then they get the call that Katie (Natalie Grace) has been found alive, though she was in a sarcophagus and wrapped like a mummy. We know the woman from the first scene had a part in that, but what's the point? While they've found their daughter and finally have closure, seeing her like this is almost worse. She doesn't even look human. Then there is the question of why she was entombed in a sarcophagus. I don't know if the family realizes it, possibly blinded by the joy of her return, but this isn't Katie. She is more monster than human. Their judgement is clouded by the prospect of their daughter's return.
Watching the mom trim Katie's nasty, gnarled toenails is gross. Much like Evil Dead Rise, this relies on gross outs. This could explore the unsettling and creepy, but with every chance it goes for gore.
The parents lash out at each other. Charlie realizes they need help while Larissa disagrees. She's delusional. They trade barbs and blame each other about Katie's disapperance, how she was groomed for weeks or even months. Charlie finds an inscription on the strip of skin that was peeled off of Katie. He seeks an archaeologist for a translation. This demon is Nasmaranian. There's also a cop that investigated Katie's disappearance. She continues to search for answers, stumbling upon a video that explains everything. It's rather convenient.
This is demon possession with an Egyptian mummy twist. That's not a criticism. It provides quick world building. This mummy is a demon, a "family destroyer." As the demon's power increases while inhabiting Katie, she possesses others.
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| Jack Reynor, Natalie Grace play Charlie Cannon, Katie / Nasmaranian |
What is absolutely wild is that Katie, their daughter, breaks through the upstairs floor, crawling on the ceiling. She attacks the dead body of grandma, and this is all during the wake. Charlie and Larissa's response it to bind her to her wheelchair. None of that is normal, and that response is underwhelming at the least. Why weren't the guests more alarmed? They take it as a sign that's the party is over. I'd have a much stronger reaction.
You know what I didn't want to see? This kid peeling off her skin. It's actually a binding to trap the demon inside the child's body, but that doesn't make it any less gross.
Of course there's a big face off. The demon at full power pummels this family, but it gets gory. Charlie manages to overpower the demon as a sacrifice to save his family, but how can he fight a demon that should be much more powerful? A demon can't fight off an average guy? He's aided by the cop that somehow memorized the chant to imprison the demon after watching the video a couple of times. I feel like it should take more than words to trap the demon. This conclusion is completely underwhelming. I don't think a better conclusion would have made this good, but it could have helped. A good horror movie should be unnerving, creepy. This never takes the time to create that emotion. Instead of pivots to graphic gore that turns the stomach.
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