Goodnight Mommy 2014

One of the most talked about and genuinely creepy debut films in decades. Not since Michael Haneke unleashed Funny Games have we felt the surgical precision of an Austrian thriller at the top of its game. Writer-directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, respectively the partner and nephew of acclaimed filmmaker Ulrich Seidl, have devised a clever and insidious mother-son-son psycho-drama. It all starts with a wholesome family lullaby before becoming more and more off-kilter as the tale of twin boys and their mother takes a terrifying turn for the worse. When the boys’ mother returns from extensive surgery, her face, wrapped in bandages, is now completely hidden from them, except for two penetrating eyeholes. Gone is the affectionate loving mother and in her place is a chilly controller who barks out orders. As she recovers in their dark recesses of the stark ultramodern designer home, the twins start to question her authenticity, and the audience’s grasp on reality and paranoid fantasy begins to blur. One final warning: the less you know about where this film is heading, the better the experience. — AT