A Day with the Living Dead: ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ (2026) – Review

(Note: Contains Spoilers…somewhat) 

What’s It About?

A family from the United States is living in Cairo, while journalist father ,Charlie Cannon (wonderfully played by Jack Reynor) is waiting to hear about a full time job back in the States. His wife Larissa is a nurse and pregnant with their third child. Larissa is played by Laia Costa with depth and emotion! Their family is completed by Katie and Sebastin who seemingly fight over everything.  

During one argument, Katie goes to a favorite spot in the garden where she hopes to see her mysterious friend Layla, who regularly gives her candy. However, this time a middle aged woman (Hayat Kamille) in a black dress and black hood over an apple. Katie didn’t need seven little miners to tell her this was a bad idea. 

When Charlie realizes she is gone, Officer Zaki (May Calamawy) steps in and she begins to investigate Katie’s kidnapping and stays on the case for the next eight years.   

A clue does not turn up until a plane crashes and a mysterious Egyptian sarcophagus, that is thousands of years old, is found in the wreckage. All are killed and when the ancient casket is examined, Katie (Natalie Grace) is found alive in it. 

She is returned to the Cannon home in New Mexico, and Katie who looks an awful lot like Bill Skarsgard in Robert Eggers’s 2024 Nosferatu (minus the mustache).  Katie is now taken care of by her dad, mom, brother and now seven year old sister and grandmother.  

Of course, all manner of horror and hilarity and grossness and gore and nastiness occur while Dad, mom and Zaki get to the bottom of what occurred in the previous eight years. 

My Review

First the “mummy” name is a bit of a misnomer. It is not exactly a mummy in the way that you would think of the Boris Karloff movie or the way that you would think of the old Brendan Fraser/Arnold Vosloo movies. 

The Mexican grandmother (Veronica Falcon) is absolutely fantastic and steals the show. She is hilarious, funny and sweet and handles being a monster victim like a true pro.  

According to the IMDB entry for this “Mummy” movie,” it said that Poltergeist was an influence, but I would go so far as to say that the Conjuring movies and of course Lee Cronin’s previous Evil Dead movie were also massive influences. Without spoiling too much, with the final confrontation with the monster there are clear Deadite references. 

Another issue Lee Cronin delicately tackles with honesty and gentleness is home care. With Katie in a wheelchair and in need of consistent assistance, Charlie and Clarissa ask serious questions about Katie’s need for help.  

These are the type of questions any caregiver is forced to asked when caring for a sick family member: 

• • • What about guilt? 
    • Am I a bad person because I cannot care for them?
    • Do you keep the person at home?
    • Do you put them in a nursing home? 
    • Is it too much to care for somebody? 
    • What kind of care can you provide along those lines? 

It was also mentioned on the IMDB notes for this movie, that Lee Cronin put a lot of his emotion into this movie after he lost his mother. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The movie does have its cliches, down to the professor with an expertise in ancient Egypt and there are five to ten minutes here and there that could have been edited out to quicken the pace.  

As was mentioned, the movie is not so much again about a mummy as much as it’s about a child or a teenager that may or may not be possessed (If you ever worked with teenagers or if you are the parent of a teenager, this is a question asked at least five times a day). 

It should be applauded that Cronin embraced practical effects and very little CGI is used except in maybe weather effects and things along those lines.  

This movie is exactly what a “go to the movies and get popcorn” horror movie should be! It is a ton of fun and worth seeing in the theaters!  Go see it!