MOVIE REVIEW: LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY

 

The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she's returned to them. However, what should be a joyful reunion soon turns into a living nightmare as she starts to transform into something truly horrifying.

Director: Lee Cronin

Cast:  Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Verónica Falcón

Release Date: April 17, 2026

Genre: Horror

Rated R for strong disturbing violent content, gore, language and brief drug use

Runtime: 2h 14m

Review:

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is an intense and gory horror film that feels more like a mash up of The Exorcist and other assorted classics more than its namesake.  Writer/Director Lee Cronin sets up an intriguing mystery initially after the family’s daughter is introduced and then quickly kidnapped before jumping eight years into the future.  He takes the time to let the characters breathe so we get a good idea of the family dynamics at play in the aftermath of the disappearance.  Once the missing daughter reappears, after a mysterious plane crash, Cronin starts to slowly unfurl a series of gory moments of body horror that are definitely not for the squeamish.  There are plenty of well set up scares throughout especially once Natalie Grace’s comatose Katie goes full spider monkey mode.  There’s a grab bag of possession tropes thrown at the screen with The Exorcist being the most obvious along with bits of The Omen and even some elements from Bring Her Back in the back half of the film.  Cronin decide to take the film in another direction entirely in its final act, changing the tone entirely which feels closer to his last film, a strange choice to say the least especially considering slow burn set up.  This is the type of horror film that suffers from a lack of individual identity as it’s clearly borrowing from other well-known horror classics, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the table.  It’s frustrating because the film isn’t terrible since it’s fairly engaging and entertaining for large swaths of time and the cast delivers solid performances across the board.  Jack Reynor and Laia Costa are strong as the parents with my sole complaint being they seem way too young considering the kids ages.  They are appropriately distressed and loving even as the situation begins to spiral out of control with small tidbits of resentment between the pair offered up but never explored.  The younger cast members each turn in believable performances with the youngest, Billie Roy, getting to unleash a particularly memorable line in the third act.  Natalie Grace is appropriately disturbing throughout boasting heavy make up throughout that does its job of looking disturbing and gross from the moment she shows up onscreen.  Verónica Falcón has fun with her limited screentime but I do wish Cronin had made better use of her talents.  Lee Cronin’s The Mummy offers up a handful of head scratching decisions which leaves the whole thing feeling a missed opportunity since there are signs of a better movie scattered throughout.    

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