Set in the Austrian countryside, “Goodnight Mommy” revolves around Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz) as they move to a new house with their mother (Susanne West) in the wake of a serious accident. It’s a sleek, luxury house in the middle of a gorgeous property, complete with a cornfield, a lush wooded area and a pond.
Soon enough, Lukas and Elias begin to have doubts about their mother. She’s recently had facial reconstructive surgery, leaving her entire head covered in bandages. She looks different and seems to act differently: cold and distant, demanding that all the window blinds be closed and the house be absolutely silent. Soon enough, they begin to suspect that the person hidden under those bandages isn’t their mother.
The genius of “Goodnight Mommy” is in how little information we’re given. Fiala and Franz (who also wrote the script) resist the urge to talk down to the audience and lay everything out neatly. There’s been an accident, but we don’t find out what exactly happened. Mother (we don’t learn her real name) is in bandages, but we don’t know how her face was disfigured in the first place. Lukas and Elias’s father is absent, but again, we don’t know why.
The movie is highly observant — major story and character developments are communicated through subtle action and scant dialogue. It’s a movie that requires your complete attention. This method of sharing limited information allows the film to be told from Lukas and Elias’ scared and uncertain perspective.
Fiala and Franz devote a lot of time to establishing and strengthening their sibling bond. Meanwhile, Mother is always depicted as this mysterious, looming presence, creepily watching the boys from her bedroom window or staying confined to her bed.
“Goodnight Mommy” is a smart, well-made film that forces the audience to fill in the gaps and try to construct the whole picture.
Additionally, the film’s central dilemma (brothers who don’t recognize their own mother) is always intriguing and penetrates to a deeper, more psychological level pertaining to parenthood and maternity.
Except for a few eerie dream sequences, the picture is mostly calm and mundane, instead of terrifying; Olga Neuwirth’s score is scarcely used, and it moves at a leisurely pace. If “Mommy” isn’t a horror film, it’s an expertly crafted psychological thriller.
“Goodnight Mommy” will be too slow for some, but for those who are patient, the explosive last half-hour is disturbing and uncomfortable (the closest the picture comes to horror) and delivers one last unexpected twist.
(Rated R for disturbing violent content and some nudity.)