Goodnight Mommy Movie Review

If you are a horror fan, or even just a thriller, suspense, or psychological thriller fan, you should definitely take the time to watch this movie!! 
The director really did an extraordinary job with this, I can't even think of another movie that was ever filmed the same way as Goodnight Mommy. It may not make sense but the whole movie takes place inside of a house in Austria and right around the house. (There are a few times when they leave the property but only for a moment.) It seems as if the director tried to make it like, layers and layers of textures that are each a mystery in themselves. 

The outside is to surreal at times, the blurriness of a piece of artwork on the wall, the strange way everything looked when the Red Cross people came to ask for donations. I think when that part happened, for some reason, it started to remind me of how A Clockwork Orange was directed/filmed/produced. It was like being drunk, high, whatever you want to be doing, and out of nowhere, reality hits and KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!! Somebody is at the door! and you are annoyed because along with that comes bright light and this vacuum noise pops and you are in reality where you certainly don't want to be. (Having to deal with the outside world.) 

But, this, along with some other parts, end up taking you in a new direction, even when you wonder why it even had to be in the movie. 
Several times throughout this movie, I felt it was a big let down. It seemed so obvious from the beginning, like the first 5 minutes. Then, I kinda started getting mad. But, there was something about this peculiar way it was filmed that kept pulling you back in. (I think this was done on purpose.)

 
Every time I started thinking, "This movie really sucks. Why did they ruin such a good story??", another layer of fabric, or paint, or music, another element that doesn't necessarily match the rest but blends beautifully very soon, was added and you are sucked back in. (Vacuum noise again....) (Not that it was confusing, although, I read a Washington Post article where the writer/movie critic, claimed that he and other critics missed every single clue and had no idea what was about to happen at the end. I find this very hard to believe but, I think this plays a very big part in the type of horror the creators were trying to instill.)

I was certain I already knew the ending. Of course there would be whatever way they were going to deliver this ending that was very, very easy to figure out...) But, the strange thing is, I just had to see it anyway. 

I'm not capable of sitting to long. (not just due to my obscure medical issues but because things tend to be boring and don't hold my interest to much. Unless it's horror, a boxing match, a kung fu movie, something that is interesting and fast paced.) But, even though there were boring, drawn out parts in this movie, there was something there that told me to keep watching. It lures you in with the weirdness that was taking place. The bright green grass that you could smell, the water in the lake that you could feel, but most of all, the neglect and loneliness that actually made your chest hurt. It was almost like an experience more so than viewing a movie. 

So, without spoiling it, which is extremely hard to do, I'll try to explain what I realized about what I believe the creators of this movie actually did which is why I would have to put, Goodnight Mommy, in my list of favorite movies of all time. Again, I can't really place this movie with any others however, it has the rawness of films like, Sinister, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, etc etc 
From the very beginning, the mom seemed to be a very cruel, arrogant bitch who was full of herself and didn't much care for her sons. She had some problem with not wanting to spend a lot of time with her sons, although, she just had plastic surgery and needed to have her "alone time". She is portrayed as well, an arrogant, self obsessed, horrible mother with no feelings. 

Then, we have Elias and Lucas who are 9 year old twins who like to just do typical boy things. Like, swim in the lake and stay under water for very long amounts of time....hmmmm and like to play with their giant cockroach collection and hold them and pet them and sometimes, put them in their glass case with a skull..... 
But, they like to play, have fun, get along great and like to get into a little bit of trouble. 
You tend to side with the twins. 

Of course, there are a few things that you will notice and your mind will start to wander... which is exactly where this movie ends up surprising you. 
They don't give you a lot of information at any part of the movie but, remember those fun books, usually science fiction books, that would let the reader choose the outcome and it would read, "If you wish to open the time machine door, turn to page 45. If you wish to try again, turn to page 52..."? YOU decide what is happening in this movie and somehow, the director manages to push some of us in one direction and some of us in a totally different direction, but, it's all in our minds. 

Just like the critics who "totally missed all of the clues". Like, how is that? Living such a wonderful life with not even a demented thought that would even let your imagination go off to the darkside?? How is this even remotely possible? But, it is! There are some people who just smile and have a fun, old, dandy time and they don't ever have a sinister thought cross their mind. (Apparently, they haven't read a good book, watched a great movie or even watched the news in a very long time!) But, these people exist and the numbers seem higher than I originally thought. They actually sat through this movie, on the edges of their seats, shocked at the ending?? gasp emoticon

Then, you have the other people who caught it in the first few minutes, maybe sided with either the mom or the twins but possibly switched in the middle or towards the end when the rest of the story, the story we didn't see or even have much of a clue about (except for a couple of lines....), and our minds fall off the deep end and immediately expect the worst. Was it their intent to make the viewer feel super uncomfortable because they realize how warped their minds really are? 

Is it easier to live without knowing the evil that exists in other people's everyday lives? 
Is it more fun to be totally oblivious to everything that lurks in the shadows. Or maybe it isn't? 
Was the director attempting to show us how our own minds are the horror story? Were they trying to show how they don't have to write much more than a half of a story and they can let the audience write the rest? Did I just pay a psychiatrist to show me a bunch of ink blots and pieces of different fabrics so i could tell him what the first word was that popped in my head? 

If so, how mighty clever of them and I sincerely hope there is another movie coming soon grin emoticon