Review of Goodnight Mommy (2015) by Chris O — 27 Dec 2015

Not only is "Goodnight Mommy" one of the best foreign films of the year, but it may potentially be one of the best films of the year. "Goodnight Mommy" is grossly disturbing in the best way possible, and is accompanied by a brilliant screenplay, along with plenty of moments that will make you deflect your eyes from the screen in terror.

Before I say anything, do not watch the trailer. The trailer is very misleading in many ways, and it makes the movie out to be something that it's not. If you do decide to watch this movie, go into it blind and enjoy the experience.

Let me just start out by saying that this movie is intelligent and surprising in every way. The screenplay is honestly genius, and I wish I hadn't watched the trailer prior to watching this movie, because it was very misleading. Either way, this movie still turned out to be way better than I thought it could've been, and the more I think about it, the better it gets. If you want to watch a horror film that has an excellent screenplay, then watch this film. The movie manages to keep you on the edge of your seat at all times, and the ending was truly unsettling and stunning. There are no stupid jump-scares present, and the movie manages to hook you and truly leave you terrified in many ways.

This movie to my shock was actually really scary and suspenseful. I didn't realize just how tense I was until the end of the film, and I was truly terrified for the well being of the characters. There was not one moment where it felt like our characters were safe, and it was a mystery from start to finish. The movie managed to scare you by getting in your head, because in the end, this movie is a psychological thriller. It managed to get into your head and made you feel uneasy throughout the film. Rather than putting big loud jump-scares throughout the film, the director relied on the use of soft, yet excruciating sounds to raise your anxiety, and it gave just enough information to progress the story, but at the same time allowed our imagination to come up with the horrors of what we thought was happening. This movie left me terrified after the credits rolled, and I have to give it props for being one of the most unsettling films of the year.

This movie ultimately is not for the faint of heart, as the movie is directed and filmed in a different language. We follow the story through subtitles and smart filming, but the execution was perfect and if you closely examine the movie, you will be able to follow it just fine. The movie is like one giant puzzle, and although you have clues as to how the puzzle might look like in the end, you really won't understand the entire picture until the very end of it. The movie gave you the perfect amount of bread crumbs throughout to keep you intrigued, but never gave much information directly. It was very subtle in its approaches at story-telling, and if you really analyze the story, you will be able to find the true ingenuity within the script. You never know whats going on until it's all over, and this movie was as much of a mystery as it was a horror film.

The movie also had amazing actors, and I truly thought that they all played their parts to perfection. The twin boys in this movie were excellent, especially as child actors, and I absolutely love the direction the director took them in. The mother was also a great actress, and I hope to see her in more films soon. Everyone here made everything feel so real and believable, and this movie is yet another masterpiece for the horror genre.

In the end, there's plenty more that I would like to say about this movie, but I'd rather not spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen this movie. I truly thought that this movie was perfect, and I really do recommend that you avoid the trailers and any reddit subheadings for this film, and if you go into this movie blind and unaware of what the plot is, this will truly be an excellent horror experience for you. The movie is disturbing and unnerving in every way, and the use of sounds and camerawork made this film horrifying in every way. This film is smart in many ways, and the plot was executed to perfection. There's no other way to say it, but this movie was one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time, and it's possibly one of the best films of the year.