A meticulously filmed Austrian spellbinding piece of psychological horror
POINTS: 9
After a somewhat long delay, the striking Austrian psychological horror Goodnight Mommy — which received the Cinematography Award at last year's BAFICI and at the European Film Awards, as well as the Grand Prize at Sitges — has finally been released. However, before discussing the movie, let’s make clear that Goodnight Mommy is being advertised as “a chilling horror masterpiece that won’t let you sleep,” which in my view is a mistake for it may raise wrong expectations.
For this Austrian small gem it’s certainly not a scary shocker that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Instead, it’s a meticulously filmed, anguish-ridden slow-burner that gets more and more frightening as its many layers begin to unfold, with a great set up in the first act, a very well developed second act and a third act with quite a bit of graphic violence. Plus a final twist that in hindsight veers the story into deep human trauma. So let’s call it a spellbinding piece of psychological horror.
So having said that there’s nothing supernatural in Goodnight Mommy, it’s neither a truly original work as regards its storyline. To die hard horror fans, Robert Mulligan’s remarkably creepy The Other (1972) will surely come to mind while watching Goodnight Mommy. Best known for directing To Kill a Mockingbird and Summer of ‘42, in The Other Mulligan and writer Thomas Tryon adapted Tryon’s novel of the same name, which is set in the US farm country in the 1930’s and tells the story of two twins boys — one of them good, the other one rather evil — who upon certain circumstances make their family and neighbours go through living hell — with some kills included.
And while Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, writers and directors of Goodnight Mommy, have claimed that they’ve never seen Mulligan’s often forgotten classic, the truth is that the two films have almost the same blueprint and deal very skillfully with deceiving points of view in the narrative. In fact, the original Austrian title of Goodnight Mommy is Ich Seh Ich Seh, which translates as “I see, I see”, so who sees and what is seen is of outmost importance. Now, enough said about that.
Set nowadays in a posh house in the Austrian countryside, Goodnight Mommy concerns twin boys Elias and Lukas (Elias and Lukas Schwarz) who share a close-knit bond and enjoy playing together in and around the house, and swimming at a nearby lake. Nature is revealed in its full splendor, a bucolic environment that feels like heaven on earth.
On a given afternoon, their mother (Susanne Wuest) returns from a hospital with her head covered in bandages and gauze — which you can also take as a nod to another great classic, Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960). What happened to her is never revealed, but since later, it’s made clear she’s a famous hostess on Austrian quite likely obsessed with her looks, then you can gather she had the mandatory cosmetic surgery all stars undergo at one time or another. For no apparent reason, while she treats Elias with a certain degree of kindness, she totally ignores Lukas. To be honest, she exhibits an overall spiteful temper and says new rules regarding their behaviour are to be followed from then on. Sooner rather than later, you learn that she’s separated from her husband and that some kind of accident took place in a not too remote past.
The icing in the cake is the fact that, perhaps because of her callous behaviour, the twins claim she’s not like their mom. And it’s not a figure of speech. They truly mean she’s not their mother at all, but some kind of impostor. So picture what these kids, who by the way are not that affectionate either, can do to a stranger that mistreats them after having invaded their home.
Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht creates disturbingly atmospheric environments and settings: exteriors are uncannily idyllic, sunbathed in yellows and oranges, and yet too perfect to be real (like those in The Other), whereas interiors are cold, dark and aseptic, with grey, blue and black shades that paint asphyxiating geometric spaces. A great architect and interior designer must have created this luxurious house, but you certainly don’t want to live in there. It’s so devoid of life.
Such a feeling is largely conveyed through the director’s precise control of tone in all the other regards. Actors are often sort of inert, their movements are sluggish if not rigid, as though they were in an early Haneke film. Editing is most leisured yet it never drags for being a slow burner. And an ominous score punctuates the drama, both in exteriors and interiors. Silences and pauses contribute to a general sensation of uneasiness, just like ambiguity and intrigue add up to a very particular type of suspense.
But the time you are about to reach the ending, an unforeseen dose of evil doings will erupt. Not that you haven’t seen this stuff before for torture porn has come a long way now, but the realistic manner in which it’s executed makes it profoundly unsettling — once again, you may think of Haneke, i.e. Funny Games.
Leaving aside the overt story of Goodnight Mommy, what may actually be more terrifying is its underlying commentary on today’s fixation with exterior beauty, with lustrous facades, with futile cosmetic surgery. And, of course, with what results from it. In this case, a mother presumably abandoned by her husband who in turn mistreats and abandons her children. An accident that leaves permanent emotional scars which adults cannot deal with. And a mommy about to pay for so much neglect.
Production Notes
Goodnight Mommy / Ich Seh Ich Seh (Austria, 2014) Written and directed by Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala. With Susanne Wuest, Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz. Cinematography: Martin Gschlacht. Music: Olga Neuwirth. Editing: Michael Palm. Running time: 99 minutes.
