This Movie Is the Real Life Coraline...

[00:00:00]What if I told you we are finally getting our hands on our real-life Coraline, but just not in the way we intended.

[00:00:08]See, there's this new movie releasing on October 9th of this year called The Other Mommy. Now, if that doesn't ring any bells, then maybe me breaking down the story of this film may actually help. But before we go getting into disturbing lore of The Other Mommy and how this film may just be our next Coraline, hit that subscribe button or you may just have to figure out if your mom is truly your mom. See, The Other Mommy is based off a book written by Josh Malerman called Incidents Around the House [music] released in 2024.

[00:00:42]In reading the plot summary of the book, we can start to see how close this movie is going to be [music] to our childhood favorite Coraline. See, the story goes through an 8-year-old girl's perspective named [music] Bella and her parents Ursula and Russ, and they seem to have a deeply strained marriage causing emotional distance and arguments. And not only that, but to add to the flame within the book, the mom also has an affair, which Bella, even though being young, realizes. Bella also has been visited for several years by a strange entity [music] emerging from her closet she calls The Other Mommy. And I don't know about you guys, but this closet seems to be acting like the tunnel just like in Coraline. Continuing [music] on, Bella and this other mother continue to hang out and Bella enjoys the attention she gets from the thing as her parents seem to be too busy for her and her parents just dismiss Bella when she explains The [music] Other Mother and brush it off as if it's just a thing of her imagination. And I'm going to be completely honest, parents should definitely be listening to their children more often as even in Coraline, her parents do the exact [music] same thing. And before I go spoiling the whole plot of the film right now as I'm not sure how much they change from its book counterpart. I think it's best we leave it here and discuss it further on within our video. [music] But I see a few reasons to believe this other mommy is actually our old friend, the Beldam.

[00:02:09]>> [music] >> So, let me explain. See, when doing some digging on the good old web and searching what this entity Beldam encounters, [music] my first thought was that this thing was a demon, a classic horror movie trope. But to my shock, when actually asking the web, this thing [music] isn't stated to be a demon.

[00:02:26]Obviously, that doesn't fully rule it out, but even in the book, it's referred to as an entity. And seeing how there is some pretty strong similarities, this [music] other mommy could very well be a Beldam herself. And to keep our minds refreshed, I'm [music] going to quickly recap the film story of Coraline.

[00:02:45]Coraline moves into the Pink Palace. She meets a boy named Wybie who ends up gifting her a doll that looks exactly like her. That doll actually being made by the Beldam as a spy. The doll then leads Coraline [music] to the tiny door after moving when she place it down in the room with the boring blue boy. Later that night, she wakes up to mice and they lead her to the door where she crawls through the tunnel and meets her other mother. She's kind of thrown off by the buttons, >> [music] >> but couldn't resist the food she smells and stays. And she goes on to travel to this world a few more times to where the Beldam then after a night of fun says for her to stay forever, Coraline would have to sew buttons into her eyes. Which Coraline refuses and she gets trapped [music] and the Beldam doesn't look like her mommy no longer. Coraline is then put behind a mirror where the three ghost children reside, victims of the Beldam's past. [music] And here is actually where we learn that the true name for the other mother is indeed the Beldam. Then, Coraline with the help of the other Wybie escapes, but is forced to go back as the Beldam has taken her real parents. [music] Coraline then offers to play a game which the Beldam loves where she has to find the three ghost children's eyes and [music] her parents where she ultimately exceeds with the help of the cat, but the hand of the Beldam follows her and then she has to break it with the help of real Wybie and she is now [music] free. So, the real question now is how does this relate to the other mommy movie and what the heck even is the Beldam? Going into folklore of the Beldam, there isn't actually a direct one called the Beldam, but the word Beldam actually refers to the 15th [music] century word Beldam, which Bel meaning fine/beautiful and dam meaning mother and it was usually used for grandmas or ancestors.

[00:04:36][music] However, it shifted into the horror scene in the late 16th century when women were being associated with witchcraft [music] and the definition changed to refer to a hag or a witch. And Neil Gaiman actually combined the two forming what we know as the other mother with a beautiful exterior, but a sinister [music] inside.

[00:04:58]And in Western European fae folklore, a fairy would kidnap a human infant and [music] leave a fake wooden or even magical copy to take its place. So, with both Coraline and the other mommy, they actually flip [music] it and instead of the creature making it as if they replace the child, they become something the child desires in the form of those they love. See, not only do they both take the shape of Coraline and Bella's mothers, >> [music] >> but they both desire something deeper.

[00:05:27]Something I left out of the summary is something that the other mother repeatedly asked Bella, which is, "May I enter your heart?" which we actually hear her say in the trailer itself.

[00:05:40]>> Can I go into your heart?

[00:05:42]>> But why would she need to ask or why does she even want Bella's heart? See, something these two Beldams share is the fact that they need to take and or take over something that belongs to their prey.

[00:05:55]>> [music] >> In Coraline, it was her eyes, but in the Other Mother, it's her heart. See, in the plot summary of the book, it states that Bella knows that if she let the Other Mother take over, they would trade places allowing the entity [music] to take over her body while she remains somewhere else. So, Bella being the smart girl she is keeps on denying it, but over time it begins [music] to become more aggressive. And spoiler warning for the book, as I mentioned earlier about covering it, Bella actually allows the Other Mother into her heart. And Bella is left in an empty void where she can hear the Other Mother practicing her voice as now her body has been taken over. See, yes, there's definitely differences between Coraline's Beldam and this one, but both crazy enough do the same [music] thing.

[00:06:43]Both take over or imitate the child's parent, preying on their desires and using it as an opening [music] to get what they want. Both need permission and acceptance from their prey in order to fully consume and take over them. And we see with the Beldam from Coraline, >> [music] >> she wants their eyes. See, the reason for this, well, my idea is it's [music] the only thing that now makes the child unable to see through her lies and [music] see what she truly is. And for the Other Mother, she needs the heart as it's our body's life force. And in order for this sinister Beldam to take over [music] Bella and reincarnate herself within her, she needs her life, >> [music] >> which is why she always bugs Bella to let her into her heart. On top of that, both the Beldam and the Other Mother actually share a lot of mannerisms, >> [music] >> like the way they cook food for both Coraline and Bella and even the real Beldam appearance and the way they smile. See, in the trailer, we see the Other Mother take [music] a spider form when hiding under the table. Kind of how the Beldam is >> [music] >> because in Coraline, the true form resembles a spider. So, overall, looking at these similarities, this film seems to be shaping out to be a very interesting film [music] and one that reminds me so heavily of Coraline. And I'm very excited to see how this movie turns out as it may just be the more creepy, more unsettling version of Coraline itself. But, I really want to know what you guys think of this down below in the comments section because to me, this movie has big expectations in my eyes. Or do you think I'm absolutely crazy? And with that, I ask, are the other mother and the other mommy one in the same? Or maybe two Beldams in two different worlds?