Review: Goodnight Mommy (2015)

It's been a long time since we saw a move that gave us the willies as much this one did. The first two acts of Goodnight Mommy were about as unnerving as a movie can get, and it absolutely skeeved us out.

We're not sure what it is about European Horror movies, but man do they ever do atmosphere and tension better than anyone else, and they always have; we're talking all the way back to the heydays of Argento, Fulci, and the like.

Of course the third act of this movie, and its almost obligatory twist, kinda killed it for us, but hey, at least it got it mostly right. Maybe we're just picky.

*It's going to be hard to talk about Goodnight Mommy without spoiling the mysteries of the movie, and especially the twist that comes towards the end. So we're going to keep it as vague and simple as we can.

After having facial reconstruction surgery, Mother returns to her secluded country home where her twin sons, Elias and Lukas, are anxiously waiting for her. Who was watching the kids when she was gone? Apparently no one. They were just kind of running wild, hanging out, and missing their Mom. Maybe that's how things work in Austria.

EVEN IF THEY'RE COMPLETELY INNOCENT, WE NEVER TRUST TWINS IN HORROR MOVIES. NEVER.

Since Mother has to rest and recuperate after her ordeal, she as some rules for the boys: no light in the house; no noise; no playing inside; and no cats. She's also become a bit of a raging bitch since her return, especially to Lukas (who apparently did something to piss her off), and so every day, the boys become increasingly suspicious of their Mother; after all, she was always kind and loving before. They eventually convince themselves that there's someone else behind those bandages, like an alien or something.

"COME GIVE NEW MOMMY A KISS."

Growing ever fearful of their "Mommy", Lukas and Elias set out to discover what is wrong with her, or if she is even their Mother at all. This includes making weapons with which to kill her, should the need ever arise. Which it just might.

Extreme creepiness ensues.

LIKE SHE'S NOT GOING TO SEE YOU STANDING THERE?

Goodnight Mommy is one terrifying little movie. The level of suspense that this one achieved had us on the edge of our seats, chewing our nails, and fearing for the lives of the kids from the get-go. We spent most of the movie wondering what in the hell was up with the Mother, and that mystery completely engrossed us like few other movies have been able to in recent memory. It dripped atmosphere, and that atmosphere was impending doom.

On a technical level, Goodnight Mommy is nearly perfect. From the way that they shot the gorgeous, isolated location, to the camera work inside of the house, this movie is about about as well-made as it gets. Euro-Horror flicks like this tend to go (or try to go) the artistic route more often than not, and we love them for it. They also push harder into uncomfortable territory than most of their American counterparts do, which makes us love them even more.

KIDS: THEY'RE WHAT'S FOR DINNER.

As far as that pushing goes, Goodnight Mommy is definitely more of a Psychological Horror effort for the most part, though towards the end, it does devolve a bit into Torture Porn-ish territory. The Mother also looked unsettling as hell in those bandages, and her odd behavior only served to make her come off like an anxious, hungry monster who was waiting for the perfect time to feed. On her children. Genuinely creepy stuff.

MAYBE THIS SCENE DID MAKE US SHIVER. SO WHAT?

On the negative side of things, the one issue that we had with Goodnight Mommy was its third act; after rather a big reveal, the movie totally switched gears, and we're really not sure if it was for the better or not. We liked the way that the movie started, and loved the way that it progressed, making us wonder what exactly was going on... and then it dropped the boom on us, and became something entirely different. We honestly wish that the "twist" had never happened, and that the movie had followed the course that we had originally thought it was on.

And as far as that twist goes... We figured it out a bit before the movie itself revealed it, but to be honest, we probably should have caught it way earlier. Thinking back on it, it was pretty obvious. We must have been overly-tired or something.

THAT IS NOT THE FIRST THING THAT YOU WANT TO SEE WHEN YOU WAKE UP. 

Never trust your Mother, because she wants to kill you. Also, never trust your kids, for pretty much the same reason.

ALSO, EYE VIOLENCE IS NEVER ENTERTAINING.

Even with the twist that we didn't especially love, Goodnight Mommy is one of the best, pure Horror  movies that we've seen this year. It was so intense at times that it almost became unbearable. We're not trying to over-sell it or anything, but when it was on point, this movie absolutely delivered the suspense and tension.

If it hits a theater near you this Friday, you should definitely grab yourselves a ticket.

B+

Goodnight Mommy will be in Limited Theatrical release on September 11th. *We were under the impression that the movie would be receiving a simultaneous VOD release on the 11th as well, but that looks like it's not the case. If it does shows up on VOD though, we'll let you know.

Susanne Wuest looks pretty good without all of those creepy bandages on her face.