First Impressions: Good Night Mommy

When Goodnight Mommy was released in 2014, it was well-received by critics and the audience. The reviews described the movie as dark and violent, with only die-hard fans of horror being able to appreciate this kind of horror. 

I do watch different sub-genres of horror but the mere mention of violence in the review, put me off and I didn’t watch the movie. 

Now, of course I want to. 

Goodnight Mommy was an Austrian psychological horror that is being remade in English. Naomi Watts, who is no stranger to horror movies, stars in the movie with twins Cameron Crovetti and Nicholas Crovetti. 

Cameron Crovetti was last seen in acclaimed TV series THE BOYS while Nicholas Crovetti was seen in Big Little Lies. 

The original movie was about the mother (unnamed) who after cosmetic surgery, has her face wrapped in bandages. 

When her twin sons come home, they are shocked to find their mother in this condition and even more so when she begins to behave erratically. 

That was not how their mother used to behave, and she definitely never favored one son over the other. The twins, Elias and Lukas begin to suspect that the person under the bandages may not be their mother after all. 

They try to catch a glimpse of their mother when she removes her bandages and then finally, tie her up to her bed and demand where their mother is. 

The woman of course continues to claim that she is their mother. 

A surprising twist is revealed wherein it turns out that Lukas had died in an accident and Elias has been hallucinating about his twin this whole time. Elias is obviously in denial and continues to torture her until eventually, he sets the house on fire. 

The firefighters arrive but are too late to save the mother who dies.  Presumably Elias dies well because in the very last scene we see the mother and the twins embrace each other happily. 

The movie’s most terrifying ingredient is the torture elements. Imagine, a delusional son putting his mother through wicked torture just because he believes she isn’t his mother. 

Compare the trailers for the original trailer and the English version and you will see the difference in the tone of the movie. Clearly, the Naomi Watt starrer looks like a subdued version of the original. 

The original movie trailer shows at least one instance where the twins place a large insect on their mother. The insect crawls into the mother’s mouth and she doesn’t freak out. In fact, she crunches on it and relishes her little snack. 

Perhaps the mother too suffers a trauma following the death of one of her sons and the painful cosmetic procedure which is why she behaves eccentrically. 

Usually, any remake follows the original to the T. Let’s see if this version of Goodnight Mommy manages to squeeze in some surprises. 

The movie will release on September 16th on Prime Video.