The Big Picture

• Psychological horror film Goodnight Mommy features a twisted plot about grief, guilt, and childhood innocence.
• The American remake on Amazon Prime lacks the visceral quality of the original Austrian film, but solid direction and performance.
• The film's downbeat ending and ambiguous themes keep viewers questioning reality and the characters' intentions.

The 2014 Austrian horror film Goodnight Mommy is one of the most terrifying projects of the past decade and served as a tremendous breakout feature film for directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. Horror films that focus on childhood trauma are often terrifying, as bearing witness to terrifying imagery from the perspective of characters who can't emotionally comprehend what they're seeing is somehow even spookier. Goodnight Mommy is a film that deals with every child's worst nightmare of losing a parent in vivid detail, and certainly won't let audiences rest easy once the credits have rolled. Although genre fans owe it to themselves to check out the original version first, Amazon Prime has debuted an American remake from director Matt Sobel. Like the original that inspired it, Goodnight Mommy ends on an ambiguous note that addresses themes of guilt, loss, and childhood innocence.

What Is 2022's 'Goodnight Mommy' About?

Cameron Crovetti and Nicholas Crovetti star as the two young twins, Elias and Lukas, respectively. The boys begin to suspect that the woman claiming to be their mother (Naomi Watts) is actually an imposter with malicious intentions. The boys arrive at their mother’s country home, where she has wrapped herself in bandages to cover up a recent surgical procedure. Their mother is an acclaimed actress, so the surgery isn’t that unusual. However, as their mother’s behavior grows more erratic, the boys begin to cast their suspicions. Who is this mysterious stranger, and what did she do with their real mother? Elias and Lukas first notice signs that their mother doesn’t remember things that she should. She forbids them from playing outside in their barn, forgets the words to a bedtime song that they’re used to hearing, and tears up a picture that Elias made for her. She now has green eyes, instead of the blue ones that they remember. When they question her about her behavior, she lashes out in anger.

The boys never remember their mother having such rage. Elias even catches her dancing in front of a mirror as if she is only just getting adjusted to her new body. After discovering a trail of blood in the barn, Lukas and Elias become convinced that their real mother has been kidnapped, and is in need of their help. After their mother attacks them and forces them to flee, Lukas and Elias manage to escape to a neighbor’s home. However, the police return them back to their mother, who has now taken off her mask of bandages. The boys tie their mother to a bed, but she coaxes Elias into letting her free.

What Happened to the Mother in ‘Goodnight Mommy?'

Elias realizes that Lukas has been influencing his perspective and that his perception of reality is no longer distinguishable from his nightmares. He discovers green contact lenses in his mother’s purse and realizes that Lukas has covered them up to prevent him from learning the truth. After Elias sets his mother free, they aren’t able to find Lukas in their home. Why has he disappeared? Well, he wasn’t really there in the first place. Elias’ mother takes him to the barn and explains that he accidentally shot his brother when they were playing with a gun. The blood in the barn is the stain from where Lukas was killed. Lukas is a manifestation of Elias’ guilt. He was not able to cope with his feelings of shame. The malicious decisions that Lukas makes are really just Elias’ interior thoughts playing out; neither character serves as a wholly reliable narrator.

The strange behavior of Elias’ mother can also be explained by trauma. She is coping with the death of her son, and cannot bear to look at Elias in the same way again. All the happy memories that she has, such as singing bedtime songs, are now corrupted. She feels like an imposter because she has become a radically different person as a result of her depression. Elias’ mother likely prevented him from playing in the barn because that’s where their father’s gun was discovered. She never would have slapped Elias before Lukas’ death. However, Elias is still not willing to accept the truth. After his mother shows him the evidence, Elias pushes her off a pillar in their barn. The barn is set aflame, and Elias runs away into the night.

‘Goodnight Mommy’s Twist Ending Reveals Who the Real Killer Is

After fleeing from the remains of the barn, Elias falls down in a field and begins to sob. As he watches the flames go up, he receives a pat on his shoulder. Both his mother and Lukas are there, and they embrace him. The mother tells him that he didn’t do anything wrong. However, it’s clear that this is just another hallucination. He began questioning his mother’s identity because he wasn’t able to process Lukas’ death, and now he can’t bear the truth that he’s responsible for her death, too. With no one to guide him, Elias chooses to remain living in his delusional reality, as moving on would mean accepting his responsibility. It's a fairly abrupt ending that ends the film on a grim note.

Although it features solid direction from Sobel and a terrific performance by Watts, the Goodnight Mommy remake is not that much different than the original film that inspired it. The remake may be slightly more overt in confirming what actually happened to Elias, but seasoned horror movie buffs may be disappointed that the new version does not contain the same visceral quality of the original Austrian film. Although it serves as an interesting introduction to the story for new viewers, the Goodnight Mommy remake has little value for those who have already seen a much better version.

2022's Goodnight Mommy is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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