Happy 31 days of Halloween!
This year, we’re celebrating with a different movie pick each day that made us audibly gasp, “WHAT THE FUCK?!“
Our 24th pick is the 2014 Austrian psychological horror film Goodnight Mommy, written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. Twin boys Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz) anxiously await the arrival of their mother (Susanne Wuest) at their beautiful, secluded countryside home. However, once home, the boys begin to suspect that the woman who came home, whose face is bandaged from surgery, is an imposter.
I have to admit Goodnight Mommy was not at the top of my watchlist. It looked slow, and I am not the biggest fan of psychological thrillers. I know, I am a joy to be around. Where’s that darn sarcasm font? I was 100% thinking that things may be what you think they are, and what you think is happening is actually transpiring. But I was wrong. I really hate admitting that.
The boys’ concerns seem to be the product of seclusion, boredom, wild imaginations, being kids, and all of the above. Still, their mother does seem to be acting strangely. And once the boys decide they’ve had enough and need answers, their behavior quickly becomes disturbing and sinister. I wondered aloud if the boys understood that they may be taking their questioning and probing too far. Did I mention how I am fun to be around while watching these movies? I was literally wondering out loud.
Things escalate quickly, and they resort to torturing their own mother. Of course they do; it’s a horror movie! As if supergluing her mouth shut wasn’t enough, they use scissors to cut her lips apart when they decide she needs something to drink.
The pièce de résistance, the no-turning-back moment for them, was the magnifying glass. They use a magnifying glass and the sun to burn a hole in their mother’s face! What the fuck?! It wasn’t what I expected, and I am certain that’s why I enjoyed the movie so much.
