The first shot is of an idyllic, modern home secluded in the Austrian countryside, which clearly means someone’s going to die. I don’t think there’s ever been a film with an idyllic, secluded home that made me think, “This looks like a feel good story. No one could possibly die in this.”
“Goodnight Mommy” looks terrifying, astonishingly terrifying, the kind of horror film that seeps under the skin and claws its way around so you can feel the hairs standing on your arms, the tightening of your stomach. Though the trailer provides a couple jump scares, the focus looks to be of a psychological terror, one that will stain your mind with grotesque images like a piercing bloodshot eye or the rapid frame movement of a woman writhing, seemingly possessed, in the wilderness. And it keeps its secrets guarded closely to its chest, leaving so many questions: Why did this mother receive facial reconstruction surgery? Is she even these kids’ mother? Are these kids the spawn of Satan? And where did they find so many cockroaches?
So many questions, so many thrills, outrageous fun.