Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)

​“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” stars Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, and Verónica Falcón.  Released on April 17, 2026, the film follows a family as they discover terrifying revelations behind their daughter’s reappearance.

The film was written and directed by Lee Cronin, who’s known for directing “The Hole in the Ground” and “Evil Dead Rise”.  It is a reimagining of the Mummy franchise.  It’s no mystery that Universal’s classic monsters have been terrifying audiences through multiple adaptations for generations.  Whether on the big screen or on television, these iconic creatures always find ways to give them goosebumps.  Of course, that includes the dreaded Mummy that resurrects from an Egyptian tomb to terrify those who dare to learn its secrets.  You might be asking yourself, “What’s so scary about a bandaged individual with a terrible skin condition?”  Well, it comes equipped with an ancient curse that makes its victims fear something worse than death.  We’ve had several adaptations of The Mummy that highlight the distinctive yet creepy confrontations of the formerly dead Egyptian priest, such as the Boris Karloff version, an action-adventure trilogy starring Brendan Fraser, and the one with Tom Cruise we don’t want to mention again.  Now, we have a new, darker take on the classic horror franchise, where a missing young girl’s reappearance is anything but a miracle.  With the combined forces of horror masterminds Lee Cronin, James Wan, and Jason Blum, does it succeed in satisfying genre fans until Fraser’s return to the Mummy franchise, or should this curse remain buried?  Let’s find out.

The story follows the Cannon family, consisting of journalist Charlie (Reynor), his wife Larissa (Costa), and their children.  They were recently grieving over the loss of their young daughter Katie (Grace), who disappeared into the desert and has remained missing for eight years.  One day, the broken family received relieving news that Katie had finally been found.  However, what seemed to be a miraculous reunion slowly descended into a nightmare, as Katie isn’t behaving as normally as she used to before her disappearance.  As strange events began to occur around the family, they eventually discovered that Katie had brought home an ancient Egyptian curse that was transforming her into a monstrous being.  As a result, Charlie, along with a detective named Dalia Zaki (Calamawy), must find a solution to break the curse before he loses Katie forever.

Regarding my experience with the “Mummy” franchise, I was only familiar with the Stephen Sommers series featuring Fraser and Rachel Weisz battling supernatural Egyptian beings.  I haven’t gone back to the trilogy as often as I should, especially since “The Mummy Returns” is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.  Regardless, I appreciated them for exposing me to Fraser’s early career, which remained a pivotal part of my movie-loving childhood, as well as Dwayne Johnson’s first cinematic appearance as a CGI monstrosity.  As for the 2017 reboot that’s intended to kickstart the “Dark Universe”, the sooner we forget about that missed opportunity, the better.  These installments I mentioned sparked my curiosity about this IP rebrand, which promises to be a much darker, more violent take on the menacing, mummified creature.  The other is the filmmaker behind the latest reboot, Lee Cronin, who did a fantastic job revitalizing the “Evil Dead” franchise with “Evil Dead Rise”.  With his approach to gory violence and edge-of-your-seat suspense, that movie gave me hope that Cronin will use this grotesque nature to make this formerly kooky creature even more terrifying.

However, I do have concerns going into the movie, the biggest being its runtime.  Given its premise involving a supernatural curse, I figured it would last somewhere between an hour and a half and roughly two hours.  But to my surprise, the filmmakers went the extra mile, putting it in blockbuster territory with a two-hour-and-13-minute runtime.  Based on the word of mouth I’ve heard about its level of violence, I was slightly worried that this length would be too much for its target audience, particularly those who couldn’t stomach grisly images and hardcore violence.  After watching the film, I can conclude that my worries are on point.  This is another movie I would be okay with being shorter, given its gore's wince factor.  Was it as disgusting as several people said it was?  Yes.  But after watching several Evil Dead movies and multiple Saw installments, I’m pretty much used to seeing this kind of stuff on screen.  However, I’m not sure if I can say the same for people who couldn’t stand human flesh being ripped off by a possessed child.

While the gore is pretty nifty from a technical perspective, “The Mummy” is a pretty beefy iteration of the horror franchise that doesn’t really justify its massive runtime.  When combined with a disappointingly formulaic premise and creepy yet lackluster frights, the movie ended up being an unnecessary chore to sit through.  If the movie is at least an hour and 40 minutes, I think the entertainment value and violent frights would be a bit more tolerable.  Understandably, this runtime is needed to emphasize its characters amid its horror tropes.  However, if they end up restraining themselves from the emotional core the movie’s going for, are they even worth caring about in terms of their grief?  Clearly, “The Mummy” has that answer wrapped up in gauze, and like the mummified spirit, it’s not a pretty sight to behold.  Though that’s not to say it’s a complete waste that should’ve stayed buried inside the cinematic tomb.

As mentioned before, the visual effects are pretty good in representing not just the makeup design for Katie’s possessed state, but also the gore.  If you’ve seen Cronin’s “Evil Dead Rise”, you’ll know that the director doesn’t hold back in making audiences queasy with the gore.  I couldn’t say much without spoilers, but there is that one scene involving Katie’s toenail that really left me wincing, more so than others.  While “Evil Dead Rise” still takes the cake for how messed up the gore factor was, “The Mummy” is still a devilishly disgusting treat, even if it ran out of ideas in the second half.  Despite the gore not living up to my expectations, I still admire Cronin for unleashing his vision onto its familiar structure.  Whether it’s the kinetic presentation or the zoomed-in shots of people’s heads on the sides, Lee Cronin further showcased his ability to get a bit nuts with some of the genre’s creepiest moments amid its grim tone.  It’s a far cry from his eerily subtle directorial debut, “The Hole in the Ground”.  However, when Cronin is asked to provide a bit more oomph in its violence, he mostly delivers on that promise.

Unfortunately, even with the intentions seen in Cronin’s direction, they’re not enough to excuse his screenplay.  Compared to the last two films he wrote, “The Mummy” is undoubtedly his most basic and derivative.  Amid the supernatural frights, the film reflects on a familial grief stemming from Katie’s disappearance.  With her reappearing in an unusual state, the family is forced to adjust, particularly when their youngest daughter, Maud (Billie Roy), comes into play.  I thought Maud would play a bigger role in its themes, but the film seemed to forgo that in favor of shocking the audience for over two hours.  The problem is that the characters and scares were both lackluster, making the shock value less impactful as the film progressed.  It’s trope-heavy, no doubt about it, but it lacks a specific spark in its substance to make it scarier or, most importantly, fun.

As for its cast, the only standout performance for me was newcomer Natalie Grace as Katie.  I swear, this young girl must’ve gone through a lot to make this character both cute and terrifying, especially under all of that makeup and prosthetics.  Fortunately, it looks like it was all worth it.  It’s difficult to compare Grace’s take on the titular mummy with the others since I haven’t watched most of them.  However, I will say that she makes for a better mummy than the one from the Tom Cruise reboot.  Another actor worth mentioning was Jack Reynor, who you might know from his role as Shane in “Transformers: Age of Extinction”.  It’s nice that he’s getting more roles to boost his Hollywood presence.  Sadly, his performance as Charlie didn’t really sell it for me.  Reynor does have his moments when he expresses Charlie’s grief and fatherly essence, but there are also times when his acting feels forced or underwhelming.  May Calamawy was also respectable in her role as Dalia, while Billie Roy evoked the usual adorableness seen in other child actors regarding her performance as Maud.

Overall, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” is a lengthy series of worn-out horror tropes that’s cursed by its reliance on shock value rather than balancing it with a stronger narrative.  The attempt to distinguish it from the previous versions with its bleak tone and repulsive gore is commendable for the most part.  However, without much intrigue in its substance and characters, it comes off more as a retread of similar demonic possession films than a reinvention of the mummified antagonist.  Lee Cronin still proved to be a solid filmmaker in the horror genre, delivering energy to its presentation and violence, even if its gross factor isn’t anything special.  Unfortunately, this latest reimagining lacks the terrifying impact seen in his previous directorial outings, making it worthy of being buried alongside other subpar supernatural endeavors.  At this point, we’re pretty much ready for Brendan Fraser to come back and save the franchise from turning into dust.  

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