“Goodnight Mommy” is the feature directorial debut of Austrian filmmakers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, and if this new trailer is any indication, oh god help me is this going to be scary.
I find the concept of family members turning against their own particularly terrifying — and especially a mother turning against her own children — so you can imagine that the premise of a woman covered in post-facelift bandages menacing her 9-year-old twin sons might strike a nerve with me. The cockroach bit near the end is the money shot here, but just seeing the titular “Mommy” (Susanne Wuest) silently walk around an eerily-lit, isolated country home is enough to make me quiver. Honestly, I can hardly deal with this.
Here's the plot summary:
In the heat of the summer. A lonesome house in the countryside between woods and corn fields. Nine-year-old twin brothers are waiting for their mother. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before. The children start to doubt that this woman is actually their mother. It emerges an existential struggle for identity and fundamental trust.
Watch the trailer below.
“Goodnight Mommy” hits theaters on September 11.