The Mummy

First Reaction

Going into this movie, I was expecting something closer to that classic Mummy feel. Something like the The Mummy mixed with a little bit of that old-school horror, maybe even some Raiders of the Lost Ark type adventure, just darker based on what the trailers were showing.

And honestly, at the beginning, it kind of felt like we were getting that.

We’re in Egypt, everything looks good, the tone is set right, and the opening scene has that darker edge to it. The gore is already there, and you can tell right away this is going to lean more into that Evil Dead Rise style brutality. I was sitting there thinking, okay… this might actually be what I wanted.

But then the movie shifts.

And once it shifts… it never really comes back.

What This Movie Turns Into

Once we leave that opening setup and get into the house with the family, this stops feeling like The Mummy.

It turns into something completely different.

At that point, it feels way more like a possession movie. Like something straight out of The Conjuring or Insidious. And I’m not even exaggerating when I say that—even Fox picked up on it.

When we left the theater, he looked at me and said, “That could’ve been The Conjuring 5.”

And honestly… he wasn’t wrong.

You can see the fingerprints of Lee Cronin and James Wan all over this thing. Cronin brings that brutal, uncomfortable body horror, and Wan brings that atmosphere—the sound design, the tension, the way the scenes are set up.

The problem is, it doesn’t feel like The Mummy anymore.

The Daughter

Now, I will say this—the idea behind the daughter is actually really interesting.

Her coming back after being missing for all those years is immediately uncomfortable. You can feel something is off, and that tension works. And the design? That part is solid. The idea that her “skin” is basically layered wrappings with inscriptions binding something inside her—that’s a really cool concept.

That’s where the movie almost grabs onto what it’s supposed to be.

But then it leans too far into possession.

Once you fully see what’s going on, it stops feeling like a mummy and starts feeling like an exorcism. It’s less ancient horror and more The Exorcist energy.

So the idea is there. The execution just takes it in a different direction.

The Horror & Pacing

Now don’t get me wrong—the horror itself isn’t bad.

There are some moments that are genuinely uncomfortable. The gore hits hard when it needs to. There are scenes that make you look away a little bit, especially with how close the camera gets and how long it sits on certain things.

But the pacing is where this movie starts to struggle.

It feels like we spend a lot of time just sitting there trying to figure out what’s going on instead of the movie actually moving forward. It keeps teasing something bigger, then pulling back. Tease, pull back. Tease, pull back. Over and over again.

And after a while, that starts to wear on you.

Because by the time it finally tries to go all in, you’ve kind of already checked out a little.

That’s where something like The Conjuring does it better. It builds tension and then commits. This movie never fully commits.

There’s also a moment later in the film that really pulled me out of it a bit.

At one point, after a lot of things have already gone wrong—like, clearly way past the point where this situation is out of control—the father finally says something along the lines of, “Maybe we need to put her somewhere that’s equipped to handle this.”

And I’m sitting there thinking… now?

That conversation should’ve happened way sooner.

I get it—the mother has that emotional attachment. This is her daughter who’s been missing for years, and she doesn’t want to let her go again. That part makes sense.

But the timing of that conversation doesn’t feel real.

At the point where it finally comes up, things have already gotten so bad that any normal person—no matter how strong that emotional attachment is—would be like, yeah… we are absolutely not equipped to handle this.

It just feels like the movie waited too long to have that discussion, and because of that, it makes the characters feel a little less believable than they should.

And then the ending just… keeps going.

It really should have ended earlier, but instead, it adds that extra moment with the spirit jumping into the woman who originally kidnapped the daughter. That part didn’t feel needed at all. It just felt like one last scare for the sake of it—and honestly, it weakens the ending more than it helps it.

Missed Details & Weak Connections

There’s also this weird thing with the cavities that never really made sense.

Apparently, they’re drawn to the mummy—or at least that’s how it’s presented—but the movie never explains why. And I’m not saying you need a full breakdown or a big exposition dump, but give me something. Even just a small hint or a line of dialogue that lets me understand the connection.

Because as it stands, it just feels random.

The cavities show up, something brutal happens, and then they’re gone. It ends up feeling like they were only there to set up a violent moment, not because they actually meant anything to the story.

And that’s something horror movies do sometimes—they introduce an idea like that, something being drawn to the evil, but don’t give you enough to connect the dots. You don’t need to over-explain it, but you do need to ground it just enough so it feels intentional.

Here, it just feels like a missed opportunity.

Final Thoughts

So yeah… did I enjoy it?

Yeah—for a one-time watch.

But I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for more of that adventure horror feel. Something where we’re exploring tombs, uncovering something ancient, trying to escape something we don’t fully understand.

Instead, we got a haunted house possession movie.

Now, if you’re into that—if you like The Conjuring or Insidious—you’ll probably enjoy this a lot more. It fits right into that style, just with more gore.

But if you’re going in expecting The Mummy?

You might feel a little off walking out.

I’d still recommend it—but not as a “go rush to the theater” kind of movie. This is more of a “wait for streaming” watch.

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t really a Mummy movie.

It’s a possession horror film wearing the name The Mummy.

Rating: 6 / 10

Audience Feedback

I’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts on the film. Email me at daniel@nobodycritics.com.