Goodnight Mommy
Director: Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz
Release Date: 2015
Ya know, the film has to be really fucked up for me to label it as "disturbing." I watch horror movies for fun so I'm not easily spooked or creeped out. I thought The Human Centipede wasn't fucked up enough! I That provides you with a sense of my tolerance.
Which brings me to Good Night Mommy. Two things popped into my head: 1. I need to watch more international horror films and 2. This is a really sad, demented and disturbing film. It's brilliant in execution and those images, may haunt you, or not, depending on your tolerance.
Elias and Lukas live in the countryside, somewhere in Germany. Their mother recently had plastic surgery on her face wears a bandage for the majority of the film. If you've seen the trailer, you know that the brothers don't think their mom is who she says. What is revealed by the third act gets under your skin and makes you want to shake some sense into those boys. By the end, you're sitting on your couch, in shock, wondering what you just watched and wanting to know (like me) the origin of this fucked up tale.
The great: Oh the tension, the pacing, the acting, the score, and the gorgeous cinematography with each shot? Watching this film made me wish I wanted to be a DP because the film looked amazing. The production design from the first shot to the last was impeccable. There was a sharpness to the film which for me, complimented the sharpness that the German language exudes. Some phrases sounded clipped and each piece of furniture was devoid of emotion, similar to the way the dialogue (the mom was mean).
More good: If you are paying attention, a huge reveal isn't as shocking but adds more to the tension by the third act of the film. I loved that reveal. It was so creepy and sad at the same time.
The just sad: This doesn't reveal the ending at all but I notice that grief makes people monsters and not themselves. It's an emotion, amidst all the shock of any horror film we watch, that everyone can relate to. We are not affected the same but we are affected. The way it's used in this film is heartbreaking and also effective for the plot of this film.
I was affected by this film and still enjoyed it. It made me want to reach out to my family and connect. This lack of connection that we have affects people in different ways.
Elias and Lukas live in the countryside, somewhere in Germany. Their mother recently had plastic surgery on her face wears a bandage for the majority of the film. If you've seen the trailer, you know that the brothers don't think their mom is who she says. What is revealed by the third act gets under your skin and makes you want to shake some sense into those boys. By the end, you're sitting on your couch, in shock, wondering what you just watched and wanting to know (like me) the origin of this fucked up tale.
The great: Oh the tension, the pacing, the acting, the score, and the gorgeous cinematography with each shot? Watching this film made me wish I wanted to be a DP because the film looked amazing. The production design from the first shot to the last was impeccable. There was a sharpness to the film which for me, complimented the sharpness that the German language exudes. Some phrases sounded clipped and each piece of furniture was devoid of emotion, similar to the way the dialogue (the mom was mean).
More good: If you are paying attention, a huge reveal isn't as shocking but adds more to the tension by the third act of the film. I loved that reveal. It was so creepy and sad at the same time.
The just sad: This doesn't reveal the ending at all but I notice that grief makes people monsters and not themselves. It's an emotion, amidst all the shock of any horror film we watch, that everyone can relate to. We are not affected the same but we are affected. The way it's used in this film is heartbreaking and also effective for the plot of this film.
I was affected by this film and still enjoyed it. It made me want to reach out to my family and connect. This lack of connection that we have affects people in different ways.
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