Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026) | Film Review

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is the kind of film that’s bound to split audiences straight down the middle. Not because it’s bad, far from it, but because it dares to sidestep expectations in a way that feels both refreshing and, at times, slightly misleading.

If you’re walking in hoping for a traditional, old-school monster movie – dusty tombs, creeping curses, and that unmistakable gothic atmosphere – you might find yourself a little thrown. Cronin’s take leans far closer to Evil Dead or The Exorcist territory than anything resembling the classic mummy formula. I mean it’s not the first to toy with this approach – some of the sequels to both Universal Studios & Hammer’s ‘Mummy’ films have done before – but Cronin’s film fully commits to it. Possession, body horror, and relentless brutality take center stage, while the “mummy” aspect feels more like a loose framework than the driving force of the narrative.

That said, it’s undeniably a bold approach – and for the most part, it works. Cronin clearly knows how to craft tension and push boundaries, and the film benefits from his confidence behind the camera. The gore and practical effects are standout elements here, delivering some truly stomach-churning moments. There’s one scene in particular that channels the same kind of visceral, wince-inducing disgust as the infamous cheese grater and glass-eating sequences from Cronin’s previous fil Evil Dead Rise. It’s rare for horror to genuinely make seasoned viewers squirm these days, but this moment absolutely earns that reaction.

The cast also does a solid job across the board. Performances feel committed and grounded, even when the script occasionally lets them down. Unfortunately, that’s where one of the film’s more noticeable weaknesses lies – there are several points where characters seem to abandon logic entirely, making baffling decisions that feel more like plot convenience than organic behaviour.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026) | Film Review

Like why ignore a growing spot of decay in your house, brush off weird behavior and bizarre occurrences or not question a healthcare professional that felt comfortable discharging a catatonic little girl that’s been missing for years into the care of her family – last one may have just been me, but it wound me up. It doesn’t completely derail the experience, but it does pull you out of the immersion more than once.

Narratively, the story is relatively straightforward, though it introduces an interesting spin on the mummy mythos. As I said above, the problem is that the Egyptian lore and traditional elements feel underdeveloped, almost like an afterthought. Instead of being deeply woven into the plot, they act more as a backdrop – a justification for the horror rather than a core component of it. For a film titled The Mummy, that’s a noticeable gap.

Ultimately, this is a film that succeeds more as a visceral horror experience than as a faithful reimagining of a classic monster. It’s intense, gruesome, and confidently directed, but it doesn’t quite deliver on the expectations its title sets. Whether that’s a dealbreaker or a welcome twist will depend entirely on what you’re hoping to get out of it. It may not be the mummy movie you were expecting, but if you’re willing to meet it on its own terms, there’s still plenty here to appreciate and enjoy.