Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

This film is really more of a riff on The Exorcist than it is a “mummy” movie, but even viewed on those terms, it’s still hampered by a weak plot, characters making stupid decisions, and an over-reliance on excessive gore and distasteful body horror.

Premise:  Eight years after Charlie (Jack Reynor) and Larissa’s (Laia Costa) 8-year-old daughter Katie was kidnapped in Egypt, she is discovered sealed in a sarcophagus recovered from a plane crash.  Despite being near catatonic and severely traumatised, Charlie and Larissa take Katie home to live with them in America, with their two other children and Larissa’s mother.

Review:

In case it wasn’t already obvious, I really didn’t like Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.  I appreciate that I may not be the target audience, and that there are probably some viewers who love unsettling body horror and stomach-turning gore and who are able to overlook the film’s other (significant) flaws, but this really wasn’t for me.  And if, like me, you’re not into films where the director’s main objective seems to be to disgust viewers with the movie’s distasteful and disturbing imagery, then you should problem avoid this film.

I honesty don’t know why writer/director Lee Cronin chose to make a “mummy” film, when it seems clear to me that what he really wanted to make was a demonic possession film, following in the footsteps of The Exorcist.  This movie has none of the lore, mythology or story elements of a traditional “mummy” story, and what limited “mummy” related elements there are have no real impact or bearing on the story.  Quite simply, young Katie could have been adducted by anyone, and could have been possessed by a demon anywhere – and it seems the only reason to set the abduction in Egypt was so they could call this a “mummy” movie.  Compared to this film, Tom Cruise’s 2017 version of The Mummy now seems like a triumph!

“…I was bored for most of its (overlong) runtime…”

I found this movie so disappointing in part because I really enjoyed Lee Cronin’s previous film, Evil Dead Rise.  While that film also didn’t hold back on the gore, it nevertheless playfully toyed with audience expectations and had a strong sense of dark humour that ran through everything.  Lee Cronin’s The Mummy doesn’t have any sense of humour or playfulness, and its sole objective appears to be to unsettle and disgust audiences.

Not only is the film over reliant on body horror (including several distasteful scenes of self-harm), but it’s also just not very good generally.  I honestly found myself feeling bored for most of its (overlong) 2 hours and 14 minutes runtime.  To make matters worse, the storyline is fairly nonsensical, and depends on the characters repeatedly making stupid decisions and ignoring all the obvious warning signs in front of them.  Even the central premise that the parents would be allowed to take Katie home when she is first discovered makes no sense, given that she’s quite clearly still in need of round-the-clock medical attention, and she’s also quite clearly psychologically traumatised to such an extent that she’s an obvious danger to herself and others.

“…characters ignore all the obvious warning signs in front of them…”

The cast do the best they can with the material they have, but Jack Reynor’s and Laia Costa’s characters are poorly developed beyond the film’s need for them to continually make bad decisions.  May Calamawy gets a bit more to do, as the Egyptian cop investigating Katie’s abduction, and Natalie Grace does deserve recognition for giving such an unsettling performance as the returned Katie. 

For me, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is a film that I have no interest in ever watching again (which is a pity, as I was excited to see this after I enjoyed Evil Dead Rise so much).  If you find something to enjoy in this movie, good for you – but hopefully this review will given you an idea of what you’re in store for, and whether this sounds like a film you’d enjoy.