Director: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
By Alex Watson
Austrian directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala have created a really hypnotic and gut wrenching thriller with their effort Goodnight Mommy. Possessing an eerie and distorting ambiance from the opening frame, Franz and Fiala superbly blur the lines between real and fantasy. What makes this thriller so effective is that we are continually second guessing our own assumptions and theories even after the closing credits. For those looking for a feel good story of a family reconnecting, best stay away from this one.
After undergoing facial surgery, a mother (Susanne Wurst) returns to a secluded luxury house in the countryside to recover. When she reunites with her boys Lukas (Lukas Schwarz) and Elias (Elias Schwartz) she soon displays some unusual character changes. Before long Lukas becomes convinced that the woman beneath the bandages is not their mother but an impostor. As they set out to prove their theory correct, lines will be crossed that could potentially be fatal.
From the moment that the mother returns home, it is clear that this family has become heavily fractured. The big question in Goodnight Mommy comes forward relatively early and this is good timing from Franz and Fiala because it forces the audiences to start playing their own version of detective. Is this woman really a fraud? There are simple but effective signs to enforce the argument, mother has become more distant and short-tempered and enforces more discipline. Also during an easy game of Guess Who she forgets facts about her own identity. Could this be just after effects from surgery? Or is there something far more sinister lurking underneath the surface of this heavily disguised woman?
As events play out we are always doubting which scenario we want to believe. Could their mother have maliciously killed the cat the boys rescued? Also what is the reason behind ordering over a years supply of food? All this and more gives this picture a gradually building unease which by the movies climax becomes almost suffocating. The boys are now absolutely afraid of their mother and she now refuses to acknowledge Lukas for an unknown past trauma. What has happened to the loving mother who would sing to them as children? What starts as a beautiful and carefree summer surrounded by the glory of nature turns into a chilling nightmare when the kids go indoors.
A gruesome and painstaking finale is the result of 100 minutes of pure tension as the boys descend into torture to get the information they want. Their mother is tied to a bed and we see her burned with a magnifying glass and see glue added on some sensitive areas. In this sequence, any sympathy or loving concern we may have felt for these two boys are thrown out the window. Through a delightfully ambiguous style, Fiala and Franz give us red herrings that could prove decisive to the outcome in act one. When the suspicions and gradually rising malice come full circle, we are given a nasty taste to finish on.
As the twins real life brothers Elias and Lukas Schwarz are a real representation of good and evil. Beneath those innocent eyes there beats the heart of a real monster. As the movie progresses their attitude turns from worried to almost psychotic by the crescendo. A presence that wouldn't look out-of-place in Michael Haneke's world, the Schwartz brothers are a revelation. Susanne Wurst also stakes her own claim in the presence department and although heavily bandaged throughout, she is a lurking and ominous figure.
Franz and Fiala have made a movie that is probably odds on for being one of the most uncomfortable experience of 2015. Goodnight Mommy is a movie that will have the gears of your mind ticking constantly even as you exit the darkened theatre. Beware the minds of children, they are a dangerous weapon.
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