Available on Prime Video, the horror thriller “Goodnight Mommy” starring Naomi Watts is an adaptation of an Austrian film released in 2014.
Directed by Matt Sobel, the film Goodnight Mommy – available on Prime Video – features Naomi Watts in the role of a woman for the least strange. Her face is covered with surgical bandages and her two children, twins Elias and Lukas, begin to wonder if this is really their mother.
This American feature film is a remake of an Austrian film – also titled Goodnight Mommy – directed by the duo Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz. When it was released in 2014, this horror thriller stood out, launching the careers across the Atlantic of the two filmmakers who would later direct The Lodge with Riley Keough.
If several details differ between the two versions, the story, it remains mainly the same. The film with Naomi Watts leaves more room for the mother, a complex character whom children and spectators are wary of. Nonetheless, the original is worth a look for its European sensibility which makes the thriller stand out thanks to its unique style.
Koch Media In the original film, actress Susanne Wuest.
The film takes its time and lets the tension build crescendo. No jumpscares or twirling action scenes, but a very present malaise that takes the audience by the throat. Also, more than in the American version, the Austrian Goodnight Mommy allows itself to go further in anguish, with images and shots that still give goosebumps. In 2015, the film was shortlisted to represent Austria at the Oscars.
Goodnight Mommy (2014) is available on the Shadowz platform.