Worth: $13.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Naomi Watts, Cameron Crovetti, Nicholas Crovetti
Intro:
… a formulaic thriller telegraphing its intentions, but the performances are compelling enough to look past the predictability.
Packed with atmospheric chills and eerie suspense, this psychological thriller delivers a sense of creeping unease from the word go. Co-writer and director Matt Sobel creates a dreamlike atmosphere that quickly descends into nightmare when identical twins Elias and Lucas (Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti, Big Little Lies) arrive at their mother’s secluded farmhouse for a shared-custody visit, their father driving away before the boys are even inside the house.
Instead of the expected warm welcome, Elias and Lucas are greeted by a looming figure dressed in a silk robe with a face entirely wrapped in bandages, the apparent result of some form of cosmetic surgery Mommy neglected to mention.
See-sawing between fragile and neurotic, Mommy (Naomi Watts) makes the rules very clear: no running or shouting in the house, the blinds stay drawn, the barn is off limits, and so is Mommy’s bedroom. What follows is a tense psychological unravelling of the relationship between mother and sons, and the sinister result of keeping secrets and telling lies.
Goodnight Mommy is an American (arguably sanitised) remake of the 2014 Austrian film of the same name. Much of the body horror and more confronting violence of the original has been diluted in favour of a more emotional conflict that sits somewhere between standard horror monster movie and domestic family drama.
Watts gives a deliciously unsettling performance in her role; almost Gothic in her demeanour, Mommy is a disquieting figure wandering the home dressed in a satin nightgown, moods swinging wildly between melancholy and vaguely nostalgic. Centring the plot around pale, doe-eyed twins seems like classic horror movie fare, but both Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti give unvarnished, genuine performances as captives trying to piece this mystery together.
Alex Weston’s original score provides steady accompaniment, setting the tone for the strange unreality of Mommy’s house, building from delicate and playful to frenzied as the boys’ own emotions threaten to overwhelm. In the scenes where Lucas and Elias have been forbidden from making noise or must secret away their feelings, Weston’s score speaks for them.
Ultimately, Goodnight Mommy is a formulaic thriller telegraphing its intentions, but the performances are compelling enough to look past the predictability.
