Goodnight Mommy (Blu-ray Review)
In a lonesome house in the countryside in the heat of mid-summer, nine-year old twin brother await their mother’s return from the hospital. When she comes home with her face obscured by bandages, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is. What ensues is a terrifying struggle with fatal consequences on par with The Shining and Dead Ringers in what The Daily Beast calls “the most terrifying film of the year.”
Film 
Nothing is what it seems in this crazy little thriller called Goodnight Mommy (Ich Seh, Ich Seh). Lucas and Elias are precocious twin brothers who carry on like any siblings would. They play and have together while waiting for their mother in a nice country home out in the Austrian countryside. They spend their days on a trampoline, swimming in the lake nearby, exploring caves etc.
When their mother returns from the hospital her face and head is completely bandaged around and it worries the boys, because not only did their mom return from the hospital after having some sort of procedure but she’s now acting a bit weird and is extremely short tempered. It’s not like her by their estimation. It’s because of her indifferent attitude towards them that Lukas and Elias begin to lash out at her ultimately coming to the conclusion that she is not their mother but an imposter.
They devise a plan to capture and potentially torture the truth out of her by any means necessary. Once this person admits that she is not who she says she is then they will go back to being the family that they were. It’s going to be a painful journey for all of those involved and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Goodnight Movie was an exceptional thriller and only benefits by re-watching it, because there was so much stuff that is missed on a first viewing. I originally thought that this was going to go the route of Funny Games but as time went one it actually went quite the opposite. The film is extremely violent but I would not go so far as to call it “torture porn” by any stretch of the imagination. There are scenes of torture and mental anguish but the film does not relish in it.
The Schwarz Brothers are terrific little actors displaying a bevy of emotions and Susanne Wuest, who plays their mother, does a great job of bouncing back and forth from being control to not being in control. It’s the type of film where I can see how the scenario presented can be a mother’s worst nightmare and on the same page it can be a child’s worst nightmare, too. We are nearing the end of the year but Goodnight Mommy is on my radar as one of the best films of the year. I throw around the term “style over substance” a lot but this film has both. Check it out!
Video 
Encoding: AVC/MPEG-4
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Clarity/Detail: There’s a nice little Easter egg at the end of the credits that says “Shot on glorious 35mm” and that is a great thing. The image has some excellent grain levels and contrast and sharpness are natural and defined.
Depth: The level depth is outstanding. So much that it makes me want to live in the Austrian countryside. The visual aesthetic in Goodnight Mommy is expansive. The Blu-ray reproduces this effortlessly.
Black Levels: Black levels are deep and inky. Crush free, too.
Color Reproduction: The color levels go from colorful, to muted, to washed out in certain scenes depending on the theme and tone that is being conveyed.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are about as good as they can get on our fair skinned principal actors.
Noise/Artifacts: The image is free of anomalies. Shot in the countryside one would think that noise video noise would be mistaken for bugs and whatnot. I am happy to say that the image is free of both of those.
Audio
Audio Format(s): German DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Dynamics: The film isn’t your typical loud crash and bang type but when there are parts of action driven violence involved the soundtrack picks up the slack where needed. It’s a sort of contained and expanded type of a soundtrack and that lends to the overall mood of the film.
Low Frequency Extension: The LFE channel is used but it’s uses sparingly. It bumps the low-end when it needs to.
Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels handle ambience and directional effects well but it’s quite for the most part.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are crystal clear.
Extras
The Blu-ray has only one special feature that is an interview with the filmmakers. It’s more of an educational type of interview, so if you’re looking for answers on film specifics then you will be sorely disappointed.
- A Conversation with Filmmakers Veronika Franz & Severin Fiata (HD)
Summary
Goodnight Mommy was an unsettling little German thriller that should be given a chance. Don’t let the Funny Games overtones keep you from seeing the film, because it’s nothing like that movie. The Blu-ray has great video and audio and the interview with the filmmakers is informative. Goodnight Mommy was a great surprise and is highly recommended!
Goodnight Mommy is available on Blu-ray & DVD!
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