Only scary thing about this horror film is how the black girl is ostracized by her adopted white family.
by Tracie Reddick
Is this suppose to be an evil twin tale, a demonic possession or an adoption gone wrong story straight outta Lifetime?
I can get with the latter since its a recurring plot in a number of films like, The Bad Seed (1956) and Orphan (2009).
But, Paul Etheredge’s The Other (2025) displays the type of stereotypical storytelling that takes the nature v. nurture criminality factor to a new racist level.
As a result, the adoptive mom, Robin (Olivia Macklin), comes across as a bigot during her interactions with her black daughter, Kathelia (Avangeline Friedlander).
Overall, the film, which is suppose to explore the dark side of foster care, basically gives credence to the argument made by some members of the National Association of Black Social Workers.
That is: African American children adopted by families that do not share their ethnicity suffer from irreparable, psychological damage.
Don’t get it twisted. I’m not against transracial adoptions. I ain’t gonna lie though, this film made me go, hmmm.
Why? Because there were too many unnecessary, cringey comments and actions that made it obviously clear that one of these things was not like the others.
Hence, the meaning of the title I’m guessing.
Foster and adoptive parents must undergo a rigorous, home study process before a child is placed in their care. Even if there wasn’t any research done, common sense should have prevailed, particularly in a transracial adoption case, to create a culturally friendly environment.
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Instead, Robin jokes about the all-white, doll line-up she gathered, displaying a lack of sensitivity and privilege.
Plus, there wasn’t a single black person at Kathelia’s welcome home party, creating an uncomfortable, if not overwhelming, environment that leads to her being bullied then quickly labeled the aggressor when she fights back.
A violent trait Kathelia no doubt inherited from her unfit mom, who the film points out tried to kill her daughter — along with her other black, foster mother.
Being the great white saviors, Robin, and her husband, Daniel (Dylan McTee) swoop in, reminding everyone they rescued this poor, black girl from turning into the monster the film created.
Whatever. Black women in horror films are typically tortured and murdered with extreme prejudice. I didn’t expect to see such violence inflicted on Kathelia.
In addition to the fight, Kathelia gets clunked on the head with a hammer by another playmate and is rushed to a hospital.
A doctor discovers fragments of a dead twin lodged in her brain, telling the traumatized girl she ate her sister.
This is another example of unchecked, insensitive remarks that include calling Kathelia a gremlin, troublesome and noting she has a different color or aura.
When it comes to ridiculous endings, I didn’t think anything could top the cartoonish ending of The Substance (2024).
I was wrong. In the final moments of The Other, Daniel drills a hole in Kathelia’s head and out pops her dead twin — only it’s alive, making a bee-line toward his tit.
Yet, earlier in the film the evil baby had impregnated and possessed Robin, but her violent behavior was viewed in a more sympathetic tone — unlike Kathelia’s mom and foster mother, who, as it turns out, weren’t beating her for giggles and kicks but suffered the same fate as Robin.
And why didn’t the film provide a year or months later follow-up? It left viewers hanging in terms of what happened to Kathelia and her playmate since Robin killed her mom.
More importantly, are name checks no longer a thing? There are a ton of films with some sort of variation of The Other(s). Why spend all that time and money only to give your finished product a title that can be confused with something else.
I really hated this film, which has a lot of similarities to Brad Watson’s 2024 film, I’ll Play Mother (2024), which also featured rotting fruit, weird water situations and other strange occurrences plaguing a family after they adopted two orphaned siblings.
Its streaming on Tubi, along with Chris Stokes film, Adopted (2024), which is a more engaging example of a transracial adoption tale gone awry.
