Goodnight Mommy (2022) An Unneeded But Appreciated Remake

Written By
Kyle Warren

Cast
Naomi Watts, Cameron Crovetti, Nicholas Crovetti, Peter Hermann

Amazon Studios

Runtime
1 hour 31 minutes
Synopsis
When the twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s demeanour altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.

Review By Chris Hammond

In a world full of film remakes and re-images, it’s a daunting task to pick and choose which ones are worthwhile. It is even a harder task when the film is being remade in English and the existing content has no issues.

In the case of Goodnight Mommy, it is a complicated. Austrian duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s 2014 “Goodnight Mommy” is a perfect film. So when news broke of an appending remake, people asked why?

Director Matt Sobel gives viewers a few good reasons, one being actress Naomi Watts. She has taken on the horror genre before and actually given some great performances. Here she plays “mother”. Her portrayal gets watered down some in this version, but Watts still manages to bring the creepy. Her character is under bandages for 75% of the film and this itself is shocking and eerie. There’s an embodiment of oddness towards her children that is cause for pause.

The twins Lucas and Elias are there to visit their mother, but something’s different. Beyond the bandages, she showers the pair with new rules that they are not to disobey. These Rules include keeping the blinds drawn, keeping the noise down and the list goes on. These rules reveal their reasons for existing throughout the 90 plus minute run time .

The second reason to see this remake is the wonderful and weird performances by Cameron Crovetti (Elias) and Nicholas Crovetti (Lucas). Both these young actors are dedicated to the source material and do a superb job of evoking the audience’s sympathies.

Although they are twins they each have their own feelings about this new version of their mother. Lucas is not the trusting child and questions if “mommy” is mommy or if she’s been replaced by someone or something. Elias wants to believe that their mother is the loving and caring person that he remembers singing to them before bed.

As the movie progresses and the bandages peel away things become more clear. This is the charm of both versions of Goodnight Mommy. The source material isn’t lost in this English version remake, this is a testament to good writing and execution.

Audiences who haven’t seen the 2014 version of the film will be in for a treat. People who have seen the original will still appreciate the performances by the cast. This is a worthy remake and deserves to sit beside the original as a creepy as hell film.

Release date: Friday, Sept. 16 (Amazon Prime Video)