Moviegoers attending screenings of the Christopher Nolan-directed epic The Odyssey are reporting distress over a graphic horror trailer for the film Other Mommy. The trailer, which Universal Pictures began attaching to the blockbuster, has triggered a wave of social media backlash regarding the appropriateness of jump-scare-heavy previews before non-horror films.
Viewer Backlash and Social Media Reaction
The release of The Odyssey, which has earned $264 million worldwide, has brought millions of viewers to theaters. However, many of those attendees encountered an unexpected preview for Other Mommy, a horror film also distributed by Universal. The trailer’s abrupt transition from a gentle, domestic scene to a violent jump scare has prompted immediate, vocal complaints from audiences.
On social media, moviegoers have expressed significant frustration, with some even suggesting that the practice of pairing intense horror previews with general-audience features should be restricted. One viewer posted, Did anyone else get traumatized by the Other Mommy trailer with Jessica Chastain before The Odyssey?
while another user on TikTok stated, It should be illegal to put a horror movie trailer with a jump scare before a non-horror movie,
according to reports from Washingtonpost.
Trailer Content and Marketing Strategy
The trailer for Other Mommy, which stars Jessica Chastain, opens with a misleadingly calm sequence involving a young girl and a carton of ice cream. This atmosphere is quickly subverted when the character’s father discovers a jumble of limbs with Chastain’s smiling face poking out
from under a kitchen table, a scene Vulture notes is designed to walk the line between the ridiculous and the frightening.
While some social media users argued that the trailer was not genuinely terrifying and represented a successful viral marketing gimmick, others remained deeply unsettled by the experience. The film, which features Chastain in a dual role, leans heavily into body horror elements, including a scene where the titular character appears in a ball pit. In the trailer, a character played by Chastain tells her daughter, It’s me. I’m Mom.
Studio Response and Upcoming Release
Universal Pictures has leaned into the online discourse surrounding the trailer. Following the initial theater-based complaints, the studio released the trailer online on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, making the footage accessible to a broader audience beyond those attending The Odyssey.
Other Mommy is scheduled for a wide theatrical release on October 9, 2026.
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