Dir. Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala | Now Streaming On: Pluto | Rating: 3/5

Good Night Mommy is an Austrian film that mixes both psychological and body horror, some may even say it teeters on the edge of exploitation horror. The viewer feels almost like a peeping tom as we watch this dysfunctional family dynamic unfold. The mother seems to hate her children, who by most accounts seem to be normal little boys – the key words here are “seem to.” All three characters in this film are unreliable so we never really understand who is telling the truth until the final act. ⁠
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This film has been regarded as one of the best foreign language horror films. Good Night Mommy does pack a punch on its sequences of unfiltered gore, especially at the hands of child actors. But at its base are tropes and a plot twist that we have seen before. What makes this particular theme challenging is the fact that not only has this been done before, it’s been done WELL stylistically and commercially. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), which follows a similar psychological style, is one of the most popular Korean horror films of all time. With this considered, it’s hard to stack up Good Night Mommy against its predecessors. ⁠
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I will say that the final act is heart wrenching, disturbing, and dark. It holds up the story’s ending with grace, but still can’t shake the fact that many viewers will see this twist coming. This is not a film for casual horror viewers as it does feature prolonged sequences of body horror that many will not enjoy. I would take or leave this film – if you’ve seen its predecessors, you’ve seen this too. ⁠
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Know Before You Watch: Features bugs, animal death, blood, fire, body horror, abuse.⁠