Goodnight Mommy (2014) (Ich seh ich seh in the original German language) is an Austrian horror thriller about twin boys who move to a new home with their mother after she has face changing cosmetic surgery. The movie, always involved in an uneasy and tense atmosphere, achieved a good amount of awards and nominations in several international film festivals including nomination for Best International Film at Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2016 and winning in different categories at Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2015, European Film Awards 2015, Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2016 or Sitges International Film Festival 2014.
It’s not a surprise that the movie rapidly called the attention to American producers. According to Deadline, David Kaplan, producer for the independent horror hit It Follows (2014) is producing an American remake. It has been also announced that Matt Sobel, writer and director of the awarded and nominated drama Take Me to the River (2015), has been the chosen one to be in charge of this new version of Goodnight Mommy. In the words of Sobel, “my favorite films are those that invite the audience to step inside their protagonist’s journey. Whether fear of abandonment, or the dreadful realization that those closest to us may not be who they seem, our re-imagining of Goodnight Mommy aims to create an immersive nightmare, with visceral sensations front and center”.
The original film was written and directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz. In it, in the heat of the summer, a lonesome house in the countryside between woods and corn fields, lived nine-year-old twin brothers who 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 emerged an existential struggle for identity and fundamental trust. The main cast in the original film was formed by real-life twins Lukas Schwarz and Elias Schwarz, and Susanne Wuest. Check out the trailer in original German with English subtitles for Goodnight Mommy (2014):
