TL;DR: A missing child returns very wrong, chaos follows, and the film leans hard into gore over story - Worth a watch if you like intense horror, but don’t expect much depth or a real “Mummy” experience.
So, What Exactly Did I Just Watch?
Lee Cronin's The Mummy certainly doesn't ease into anything, as the film just slams its foot down and keeps it there pretty much from the get-go, and if you are just after some intense scenes and gore you will probably have a lot of fun with the film, but if you are also someone who looks deeper, you will also probably be trying to figure out what lane this film even wants to stay in. (Neither is the right or wrong way FYI)
On one hand, it’s clearly aiming for something heavy, something built around grief, family breakdown, and the idea of losing someone even when they’re right in front of you, but on the other hand, it’s also throwing in some of the most over-the-top, “did they really just do that?” horror moments possible, like it’s trying to outdo itself every ten minutes, and that mix doesn’t blend well, and it clashes a lot.
This Isn’t Really a Mummy Movie
Strip away the title, change a few visual details, and this could be any possession horror film, and that’s not even a stretch to say.
The whole thing leans so heavily into familiar territory that I kept being pulled back to The Exorcist, except without the patience or the sense of control that made that film work, as here, everything is louder, messier, and way more obsessed with pushing boundaries just for the sake of it.
And look, I’m not sitting here demanding historical accuracy or a lecture on ancient rituals, but at least give me something that justifies calling this a Mummy film, because there’s barely any interest in that side of things.
It’s more like the concept was used as a starting point and then quietly abandoned.
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Gore First, Story Later
If there’s one thing this film commits to, it’s excess, and I mean full commitment.
There’s no hesitation when it comes to showing you everything, up close, for longer than you probably want, and to be fair, a lot of the time it works, and it works well, where there are moments where the sheer boldness of it demands your attention, but then it just keeps going, and going, and going.
So after a while, the shock wears off and you’re left with repetition - same tricks, slightly different angles - and it stops being impactful and starts feeling like background noise, which is not what you want from scenes that are clearly meant to hit hard.
Probably what frustrated me the most though was the tone, as it goes from dead serious, digging into some genuinely upsetting ideas, to the feeling the movie is almost winking at you with how extreme it’s being.
And the thing is, the core story actually has weight, as there’s something there about loss and fear and not recognizing someone you love anymore, so that’s strong material, and that could have carried the whole film, but it's hard to stay emotionally invested when the tone keeps shifting under your feet.
The Characters Deserved Better
I certainly didn’t hate the characters here, as the actors really try to bring something real to it, especially in the quieter scenes, where you can see the effort, you can feel what the film is trying to do, but the script just doesn’t back them up.
Key relationships don’t get enough time to develop, and some characters just disappear for stretches where you’d expect them to be front and centre, so it creates this weird gap where big emotional moments happen, but they don’t land as hard as they should because the groundwork isn’t there.
We also get a whole investigation thread running alongside the main story, and I found myself way more engaged with that as it’s more focused, more grounded, and just easier to follow, because it doesn’t rely on constant shock to keep things moving, which helps a lot.
I somewhat wish the film had leaned more in that direction instead of going all-in on the family drama mixed with chaos, because it had potential to add something fresh, but it ends up feeling like a missed opportunity.
Some Genuinely Strong Moments
Even though I have been a bit negative so far, the film does have it's moments, and it certainly worked in parts for me, with a few sequences that really stand out, not just because they’re intense, but because they’re actually put together well - the camera work, the pacing within those scenes, the performances, it all clicks briefly.
As mentioned, if you just want some intensity and don't care about it being quite formulaic or get frustrated by the story, which is a bit messy, you will have fun with it, as I did in parts.
But I certainly did want the bigger picture to be more, as overall, I do think it's a film that struggles to hold itself together, and even the ending, which should have been the big payoff, doesn’t fully deliver.
It ramps things up,, but then pulls back, and after everything that came before, it needed to go harder or go smarter - it kind of does neither.
Final Thoughts
I certainly didn’t hate this film, but I also can’t say I liked it in any strong way, as it leans too heavily on shock, doesn’t trust its own story enough, and ends up losing its identity somewhere in the process.
But I am sure most people will find some moments that will stick with them, for better or worse, but as a full experience, it’s uneven - not boring, and not unwatchable, just frustratingly close to being better than it is.
It also goes on far longer than it needs to.