Movie Review: Goodnight Mommy

This film has been on my watch list for quite some time, and I just recently got the chance to watch it. For those who have not heard of it; it is an Austrian film about twin boys awaiting the return of their mother from the hospital after she has had plastic surgery. it's never explained why she had surgery, but that is not really important for the flow of the story. She returns and is acting differently than before, such as taking photos out of the family album and walking in to search the boys' room.  There is also one scene which is featured in the trailer where she walks out into the woods to disrobe.

Odd behavior that normal people just do not do, such as going for naked walks in the woods and ripping photos out of the family album. So the boys question whether she is their real mother or someone who has taken her place.

This film is very slow to get going and you the viewer mostly follow the twins around the estate doing what boys usually do. They explore and run through the woods near their home.  The mother does do some strange things and we see the boys start to question who this lady is. Is she a doppelganger? They even ask her at one point "Where is our mother?".  Is there something sinister going on? 

Not until the very last 10- 15 minutes of the movie do we understand what is really going on. I won't spoil it for you as this is the plot twist that gives you the aha moment where strange past scenes start to make sense. You may even want to go back and rewatch this after the ending so that things come out more clearly.  I'll admit I got bored at times with this film, but the end all I did enjoy it and rated it 3 out of 5 stars.