Directed by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala | Austria | German w/English subtitles | Fiction | 2015 | 99 mins
Film Source: Radius TWC
Austria’s official submission to this year’s Oscars is a slow-burning doozie of a psychological thriller. A bracingly assured directorial debut by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz (produced by Ulrich Seidl for whom Franz has scripted a number of films including Dog Days and Import/Export), this maternal horror show concerns a woman returning home after having plastic surgery, only to be taken for an imposter by her twin sons. As the fear and distrust mount, the situation grows increasingly tense, and the shocking twists and grisly turns keep coming. Much more than just a creepy under-the-skin flick (though it succeeds as that, too), this stringent chiller conjures inchoate fears and buried primal insecurities. Goodnight Mommy is no lullaby.