Goodnight Mommy: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
In a lonesome house in the countryside in the heat of mid-summer, nine-year-old twin brothers await their mother’s return from the hospital. When she comes home with her face obscured by bandages, nothing is like before, and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is.
This film advertised itself to be the scariest film that anyone has ever seen. As soon as it starts it definitely feels that way but not in the traditional sense. I went in expecting a straight horror film but what I got was a slow burning thriller with horror tendencies. Right off the bat the mother was the creepiest thing I’ve seen in a film in a very long while. Seeing her wrapped in bandages in a way that looked like a person with a weird smiley face and having two kids terrified that the person underneath those bandages isn’t their mother are some of the most nailbiting moments to me. The entire first half of the film is filled with fantastic build up and every scene contains a sense of uncertainty but it’s the twist towards the end where the ball kind of drops. It’s not that it was disappointing but it was not exactly what I thought it was going to be. There were certain scenes in the film that made it seem like the mother was going to end up being something that was possibly monstrous or evil but that wasn’t the case. The cinematography in the film was top notch and some of the best that I’ve seen in a while. Some of the shots that took place outside of the house looked great and were on par with any arthouse film. This was definitely one of the best executed thrillers that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire way but I will warn you that whatever ending you think the film has is most likely not what you’re going to get. It’s still extremely good though. 9/10
Special Features:
A Conversation With Filmmakers Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala – This feature is a great (subtitled) discussion with the directors on what their vision was for the film.
