THE FILM:

Beware, the horror hype machine! I knew - knew - I should have tempered my expectations for Goodnight Mommy, the Austrian import that got mostly rave reviews online from the horror community. As straight-up horror, Goodnight Mommy disappoints. As a beautifully shot psychological drama, it is more successful. Twin boys Elias and Lucas Schwarz steal the show as youths concerned that the bandaged woman who returns home from a procedure is not their mother. Directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala trample viewers' nerves with unsettling imagery and violence in later scenes, though some of Goodnight Mommy's revelations will surprise no one. The pacing is deliberate, and I have to believe Franz and Fiala staged this production in a way that makes it less about the story than how the characters interact.

Lukas and Elias await their mother's (Susanne Wuest) return home. When she arrives, her swollen face is covered by bandages and she is cold and detached. Mother demands quiet and rest, and the boys return to their normal routines, playing outside, adopting a stray cat and watching their cockroach collection. Goodnight Mommy is immediately benefited by the natural relationship of the twin boys. They don't have to pretend to be brothers, they are brothers, which is important in the context of this story. Mother is cloaked and severe, and it's not immediately clear whose nightmarish visions she appears in. The first act is totally without set-up or context, and the boys grow increasingly skeptical that the woman in the master bedroom is their mother. They attempt to verify her identity through increasingly intrusive means, which infuriates their mother.

I definitely appreciated Goodnight Mommy more than I enjoyed watching it. The filmmaking technique is strong with Franz and Fiala, at least in terms of lighting, framing and building dread. The family's home is covered with blurry images of women, an allusion to the central figure's concealment and possible cosmetic meddling. There is minimal dialogue, and the boys often relate through unspoken gestures. The film slowly reveals clues to the mystery, and there is a fair bit of misdirection early on. Unless you've already caught it. Somehow, the filmmakers manage to create a villain without clarification in the mother, and also garner sympathy for mother when her boys turn their backs on her. Or whoever she is.

I saw Goodnight Mommy going a couple of ways. The way it goes was my first guess but not my first choice for the narrative. No matter, as the build-up and the nerve-plucking interactions between mother and sons is the real story here. I would have liked a little distance between Goodnight Mommy and a certain 1970s thriller, but the film is original enough. Wuest and the Schwarz boys are uniformly excellent. This is some masterful child acting, folks. The often-stationary camera and slow, deliberate pans churned the acid in my stomach, and the family's cold, modern home stands in stark contrast to the idyllic countryside it rests in. No, Goodnight Mommy is not an instant classic, but it is certainly psychologically intriguing.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 2.40:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image is sharp and clear. Interior textures of steel and wood are impressive, as are outdoor scenes amid grass and trees. Colors are bold outside and cool inside, and fine-object detail is usually good. There are hints of softness, but the image is film-like and fluid. Black levels are good, though shadow detail can be crushed slightly. I noticed minor banding but no noise reduction.

SOUND:

This is a quiet film, and the German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is subtly effective, with perfect dialogue reproduction and excellent clarity throughout. The wind in the trees, raindrops and whistling air surround the viewer, and a few striking effects are pointed and intense. The score is quietly immersive, too. English, English SDH and Spanish subtitles are included.

EXTRAS:

The only extra feature is A Conversation with Filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (12:48/HD), a relatively brief interview in which they discuss the film, its inspirations, the production, fear and mood.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The horror hype machine went crazy on this one, but Goodnight Mommy is a technically sound, interesting psychological thriller that is less about the end result than the path to that end. Susanne Wuest and young twins Elias and Lucas Schwarz make for a talented trio, and Goodnight Mommy plucks the nerves with dread and uncertainty. Recommended.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.