Goodnight Mommy (B) Movie Review
Goodnight Mommy stars Lukas and Elias Scharz as Lukas and Elias, two twin boys awaiting their mother's return after her facial surgery. But when she eventually does return to their secluded house in the wilderness, the boys find that their mother is different. She has taken a disliking to Lukas, she only lets the boys play outside, and becomes physically violent when she learns of their misbehaving. And then the boys try to figure out who their "mother" really is.
This is a damn spooky film with creepy performances, made all the more creepy coming from completely unknown actors, and graphic, unsettling imagery. It's a slow-building creepiness but ultimately, it progresses into a crescendo of disturbing visuals that's almost operatic.
This film's scares rely strongly off of the typically unbreakable bond between mother and child. And it's a terrifying result when that bond is horribly disfigured; in this case, it is. The mother's treatment of her children is often unexplained and Goodnight Mommy is very effective when as audience members, we're forced to look into these unexplained instances.
This film also comes loaded with metaphorical imagery and symbolism that I'm sure the analytical filmgoer will love to interpret. Throughout the film, we see large artworks of blurry figures and at one point in the film, the children climb into a cave-like room that is littered with human bones. This kind of stuff is never explained but makes Goodnight Mommy a meaty film for viewers to dissect.
Goodnight Mommy also incorporates a really interesting use of sound and cinematography. The sound design is brilliant and evocative of David Lynch's Eraserhead in how the slightest noises are surrounded by silence in order to create a deeply unsettling atmosphere. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht contrasts the sleek, modern, almost industrial looking house to the beauty and serenity of the outdoors of which they are surrounded. Together, these things add up to maximum creepiness.
Now, in terms of plot, things could get a lot better. This story isn't anything remotely new. In fact, the twist will be very easy to spot for experienced film goers. It's a story that's been done before, granted not with imagery as disturbing as this, but it lacks a sense of freshness.
Goodnight Mommy is also poorly edited in places. There's a lot of things that don't serve a purpose to the story, especially in the beginning, and this is not including the aforementioned scenes of possible hidden meanings. I didn't feel a real sense of urgency or momentum until about halfway through the film, even if there is a sense of underlying dread from the get-go.
As a horror film, its images are genuinely stomach-churning (and I find the last shot particularly poignant and unsettling) and its last half amps up everything that we'd seen in the first half to a very effective degree, though I can't say it's particularly original.
FINAL GRADE: B
MPAA RATING: R for disturbing violent content and some nudity
This is a damn spooky film with creepy performances, made all the more creepy coming from completely unknown actors, and graphic, unsettling imagery. It's a slow-building creepiness but ultimately, it progresses into a crescendo of disturbing visuals that's almost operatic.
This film's scares rely strongly off of the typically unbreakable bond between mother and child. And it's a terrifying result when that bond is horribly disfigured; in this case, it is. The mother's treatment of her children is often unexplained and Goodnight Mommy is very effective when as audience members, we're forced to look into these unexplained instances.
This film also comes loaded with metaphorical imagery and symbolism that I'm sure the analytical filmgoer will love to interpret. Throughout the film, we see large artworks of blurry figures and at one point in the film, the children climb into a cave-like room that is littered with human bones. This kind of stuff is never explained but makes Goodnight Mommy a meaty film for viewers to dissect.
Goodnight Mommy also incorporates a really interesting use of sound and cinematography. The sound design is brilliant and evocative of David Lynch's Eraserhead in how the slightest noises are surrounded by silence in order to create a deeply unsettling atmosphere. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht contrasts the sleek, modern, almost industrial looking house to the beauty and serenity of the outdoors of which they are surrounded. Together, these things add up to maximum creepiness.
Now, in terms of plot, things could get a lot better. This story isn't anything remotely new. In fact, the twist will be very easy to spot for experienced film goers. It's a story that's been done before, granted not with imagery as disturbing as this, but it lacks a sense of freshness.
Goodnight Mommy is also poorly edited in places. There's a lot of things that don't serve a purpose to the story, especially in the beginning, and this is not including the aforementioned scenes of possible hidden meanings. I didn't feel a real sense of urgency or momentum until about halfway through the film, even if there is a sense of underlying dread from the get-go.
As a horror film, its images are genuinely stomach-churning (and I find the last shot particularly poignant and unsettling) and its last half amps up everything that we'd seen in the first half to a very effective degree, though I can't say it's particularly original.
FINAL GRADE: B
MPAA RATING: R for disturbing violent content and some nudity