What’s the creepy hook?
Picture an eight-year-old who can’t tell if the person standing in front of her is mom or a very convincing nightmare. That’s the basic chilly setup of Malfaisante: a familiar face turns slowly, deliciously wrong, and the film seems built to make you question every reflection and doorway.
Trailer vibes: trust no one (not even Mom)
The new trailer leans into paranoia. Little Bela is stuck in a domestic bubble that feels smaller and more claustrophobic with each cut, and the footage keeps nudging you to wonder if what you’re seeing is real. The tension comes from this uncertainty—mom-looking person enters a room, and the camera asks you to blink, then lie to yourself.
Jessica Chastain vs. the “Other Mom”
Chastain anchors the movie, playing a mother who’s mirrored by a disturbingly meddlesome double. It’s less about a monster popping out and more about someone who hijacks a child’s sense of safety. Chastain’s presence promises a psychological tug-of-war: maternal warmth one second, deeply wrong the next.
Meet the director and the source material
Rob Savage — the filmmaker behind Host and The Boogeyman — steers this one, adapting Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House. If you liked the slow-burn dread of Savage’s earlier work, expect another tight, atmosphere-first scare piece that prefers creeping unease to cheap jump scares.
Supporting cast and the film’s tone
Rounding out the ensemble are Jay Duplass, Dichen Lachman and Arian Moayed. The cast and the trailer suggest the movie lives in a tense, closed-door family world — the kind of setting where every small gesture becomes suspicious and every quiet hallway feels loaded.
When can you see it?
Malfaisante lands in French theaters on October 14, 2026. Based on the trailer, it’s the kind of film that’ll make you double-check door locks — and maybe think twice before letting a stranger into your house, even if they look exactly like your mother.