Goodnight Mommy: A Review

Some people are calling it the most disturbing movie trailer they’ve seen in years.

A house in the middle of nowhere. A woman, her face obscured by bandages, appears to be terrorizing her twin children as she recuperates at home. In retaliation, they feed her cockroaches, which she nibbles on in her sleep (hospital food isn’t that bad is it?) There’s fire, and eerie singing, and the whole thing is in German which somehow adds to the freak out factor.

I won’t say much about the story so as not to give anything away here, but suffice it to say that there’s a lot more to this than meets the bloodshot eye staring back at you in the trailer.

If guys in masks with chainsaws jumping out at you is your thing, this may not be the movie for you. Instead, it’s a slow build that starts quietly enough before it begins to ascend Mount Macabre, the summit of which will have you covering your eyes, clenching your toes and asking people around you when it’s over.

While you find your skin crawling, you’ll also notice the film is beautifully directed by Severin Fiala and Veronkia Franz (the team also wrote the screenplay) and shot by Martin Gschlacht, who somehow makes horizontal blinds a character of their own. Despite those terrifying tones you hear in the trailer, the film is almost completely absent of music, allowing the characters to stand on their own.

Some will find the conclusion to this whole nightmarish scenario to be unsatisfying; others will appreciate the journey and will vow never to have facial reconstructive surgery and/or Austrian twins with too much time on their hands. Seriously, someone get these kids a babysitter.

Regardless of which camp you find yourself in, my prediction is you won’t be disappointed…and you’ll never look at a tube of super glue in the same way again. Now if that doesn’t pique your interest, I dunno what will.