THE OTHER Movie Poster | ©2025 Quiver Distribution

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Olivia Macklin, Dylan McTee, Avangeline Friedlander, Lily D. Moore, Shawnee Smith, Morgana Shaw, Phuong Kubacki
Writer: Paul Etheredge
Director: Paul Etheredge
Distributor: Quiver Distribution
Release Date: June 13, 2025

There is a lot happening in THE OTHER, a supernatural drama that grows more alarming by the scene. Parsing its themes could take up an entire college course. Among its intriguing suggestions is that perhaps racism is caused by malevolent inhuman spirits.

Nice white married couple Robyn (Olivia Macklin), who is in the construction business, and Daniel (Dylan McTee), an elementary school teacher, arrive together at a Child & Family Services office. They are there to collect Kathelia (Avangeline Friedlander), the solemn-faced eight-year-old Black girl they intend to foster with an eye toward adoption.

The CFS agent (Phuong Kubacki) informs Robyn and Daniel that Kathelia doesn’t speak – no one knows if this is the result of a physical issue from birth or stemming from later trauma. Kathelia has already had one set of foster parents who, according to the agent, were older, had some health problems and evidently couldn’t cope with a child.

Almost as soon as the couple bring Kathelia home and give her supper, Robyn’s mother calls to ask how it’s going. Via the Internet, Robyn’s mom has learned that Kathelia’s mother killed her husband – Kathelia’s father – and Kathelia’s two siblings. Robyn is undeterred.

We see horrifying flashes from Kathelia’s point of view – first brief, then longer. If this is what she’s going through, no wonder she doesn’t want to say anything.

A neighborhood girl, Fiona (Lily D. Moore), befriends Kathelia. Fiona is outgoing and uncensored. She also has Down’s Syndrome. However, none of these attributes are what make Fiona so unusual, as we eventually discover.

Things start going wrong, first around the house, and then, more gradually, with Robyn. A perplexed and loving Daniel wants to believe there’s a normal explanation but eventually feels compelled to look into what’s happening. What exactly is causing all this?

It’s obvious that Kathelia is somehow at the center of this, but Friedlander is so sympathetic and terrified from the start that we initially wonder if she’s a villain or a victim. This is the case with multiple characters, where their intentions can be read in a number of ways before THE OTHER zeroes in on the facts of the matter.

Writer/director Paul Etheredge demonstrates great skill at keeping us on our toes about what we’re watching without being confusing, while at the same time steadily ratcheting up the tension. We find ourselves not only horror-movie scared but emotionally worried as the truth emerges.

In addition to Friedlander, Macklin and McTee deliver fine performances. Moore is magnetic. Often, when characters talk about one another in a film, the audience doesn’t see what’s being described, but when Fiona’s mother Lizzy (the excellent Shawnee Smith) discusses her daughter, we agree with everything she says.

There are a few logic glitches, such as why Daniel isn’t immediately as concerned about Robyn’s evolving condition as her doctor is, how it is that Kathelia has been able to remain in one place (like the foster facility) for any amount of time, and even why people aren’t freaking out about the possibility of sepsis on a few occasions.

There are a lot of metaphors and topics raised within THE OTHER, but to specify them would be to spoil them. It can be said that we are drawn in quickly and effectively, surprised repeatedly, and come away with a lot to contemplate.

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