Movie Review - Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

If you’re walking in expecting the adventure-comedy of the Brendan Fraser era or the bloated action misfire of Tom Cruise’s 2017 version, adjust your expectations right now. Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is a horror film. Full stop.

Director Lee Cronin proved with Evil Dead Rise that he knows exactly how to get under your skin, and he brings that same relentless, unnerving energy here. The story follows a journalist whose young daughter vanishes into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, she comes back. And that’s where things get very, very wrong.

7:42●●● 95%

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What sets this apart from every other entry in this franchise’s long history is the choice to put a child at the center of the horror. Natalie Grace, who plays Katie, delivers one of the most unsettling child performances I’ve seen on screen. That is not a compliment you give lightly. There were more than a few moments where I had to look away — and I’ve got a stomach of steel. It wasn’t just what you saw, it was what you heard. The sounds coming from that child were deeply wrong in a way that burrowed under my skin and stayed there.

At its core, this is a movie about a parent’s worst nightmare — not just losing a child, but getting them back as something you no longer recognize. That’s the kind of horror that doesn’t need a monster in a mask. The script earns that dread, and the visuals back it up completely. Cinematically, this thing is gorgeous in the most deeply uncomfortable way.

This isn’t the scariest film I’ve ever seen, but it’s one of the most unsettling. There’s a difference. Cronin isn’t going for jump scares — he’s going for that slow crawl of wrongness that stays with you on the drive home. Poltergeist and Se7en were cited as influences, and once you see it, that tracks completely.

If you’re a horror fan, this is absolutely worth your time. Just maybe don’t bring the kids.

Grade: B

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, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.