Goodnight Mommy was not on the Fantastic Fest schedule. It was the Secret Screening. While everybody was guessing which highly anticipated Hollywood movie might be showing as a surprise, Fantastic Fest and Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League picked one of his TIFF favorites, one he added his wife can never see.
The Austrian thriller lays out a series of mysterious elements that have you working to figure out what the movie is even about. Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz)’s mother (Susanne Wuest) is wearing bandages around her face. She refuses to speak to Lukas and demands silence in the house. The boys keep a terrarium full of cockroaches, and one day Mom walks into the forest, strips and exhibits something that sure looks supernatural with visual effects.
We’re just getting started here. Is it supernatural? Is mom the villain? Are the kids right about her? It builds to a third act where these three forces are locked in a battle of wits and wills. I don’t want to give it away, but it’s a scenario so f’ed up it’s compelling. Let’s assume the English title Goodnight Mommy is ironic. I don’t imagine that’s the literal translation of Ich seh, Ich seh, not the least of which because the German repeats the same phrase twice.
Writer/directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz draw out the discomfort and suspense with plenty of moments that make you squirm. By the time all is revealed in the end, they have followed all the rules they created. We’re just left trying to figure out those rules until the end.
I think it was a good call to make Goodnight Mommy a secret screening because knowing less about the film will improve the experience. You should know it is intense, graphic and disturbing, mostly disturbing. Obviously anything with children may be sensitive for parents, and frankly what this mother endures could be too much for a real parent to witness.
Yet, someone needs to bring Goodnight Mommy to the attention of folks who will appreciate it. TIFF is good pedigree and it has distribution, so I wonder what sort of trailer they’ll cut. Fantastic Fest attendees can trust League’s picks, and using the Secret Screening exposes it to a larger audience of people who might not have selected it knowing the title, but took a chance on the wild card pick.
When Goodnight Mommy comes out, you’ll know what it is. Only a certain breed of cinephile will go for this crazy, mysterious pick, but if you’re hungry for a challenge, Goodnight Mommy is satisfying. Not to make it sound like homework, but let’s be sensitive who wouldn’t necessarily seek out disturbing material. I personally applaud Fiala and Franz for taking me on this ride and nailing me.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
