SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Goodnight Mommy tells the story of a pair of twin brothers; Elias and Lukas (played by real life Elias and Lukas Schwarz), who are close to each other. Their mother has just returned home after a facial surgery. From the way she behaves such as imposing new rules, reprimanding their children and especially how she ignores one of the siblings, both the boys feel something's off about her, to a point where they even start believing that the woman isn't their mum! As they investigate, we now have a film.
The first act sets the story and universe up pretty well. The mood and atmosphere are interesting. Sound designs imitating cricket noise and owl howls during night time could make all of us outside the screen feel the calmness and serenity. A fair chunk of time is spent on telling how inseparable the brothers are. You could watch these two play all day, and without realizing, you'd start caring for these characters. But at the same time, by loitering around like this, the film does make you wonder where is the plot going.
The writers have done a great job in spilling exposition or information needed for us to proceed with the tale through games and photo albums. We learn about these characters bit by bit, but not quite enough for us to piece the whole story together of what is actually transpiring until the picture's final moment. Lukas, one of the brothers whom the mum isn't acknowledging has been dead for a long time. Elias, who has been hallucinating ever since about his twin still existing in the house, therefore takes dangerous steps that ends up killing himself and his mum at the end. This revelation doesn't work too well if we rethink what we've watched. Certain events such as the bathroom brawl which results in nose bleed and the entire sequence of trapping the mum on bed wouldn't have been possible if it was only done by one kid. In one of the final shots of the film, we see the mother's soul leaving the dwelling to join both the dead brothers. This tragedy is the horror aim of the motion picture. It's about how a terrible accident and loss of a family member can play detrimental effects on the rest of them.
Filmmakers Veronika and Severin utilized some stunning elements to contain the horror, such as the concealed face and both the terrifying dreams. Some good red herrings were planted, such as the mum pretending to be asleep clip. With these being said, some of the scenes do not make any sense, such as the dead cat drowning and the twins dropping a cockroach on the mum's face to later tying her on the bed while she's asleep. Well, maybe the medication led her to be so drowsy that she didn't wake up when all the aforementioned is happening.
When the torture episode begins, there are multiple cool incidents that keep us on our toes! Bedroom interrogation with a magnifier on mum's face, twins asking her what's their favorite song and left us pondering if the answer is correct until Elias proceeds to tape her mouth, brothers releasing their mum for a pee break plus maltreatment going overboard when the kids attempt to shut her up with super glue and ended up severing her lips while trying to cut off the seal are intense! While the Red Cross members entering a residence and climbing upstairs without any permission is silly, the tense is there for sure! Firebreak climax and the mum accidentally dropping an item that falls under the bed - the place where Elias is hiding to install a radio receiver are nerve-wracking