We want our mom back.
From its opening moments, which show identical twin brothers playing "It" in a cornfield before venturing into a pitch-black tunnel, an air of uneasiness pervades Goodnight Mommy, a chillingly plausible psychological horror film from Austria that doubles as one of the most effective forms of birth control on the market today. (Ask your doctor if Goodnight Mommy is right for you.) Written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the film slowly yields up its secrets until just about everything is on the table, but it's the accumulation of disquieting details and incidents that gives it its power. From the homemade mask worn by one of the boys in that unforgettable opening to the bandages covering their mother's face when she returns from having plastic surgery to the stray cat they take in and hide under their bunk bed to the absence of any photos of their father in their house, there's no shortage of things being kept hidden away. Some things can only be suppressed for so long, though, before they reassert themselves, sometimes violently.
Holding it all together are the uncanny performances of Elias and Lukas Schwarz (who share their first names with their characters) as the twins and Susanne Wuest as their mother, who increasingly comes under scrutiny as Lukas, the suspiciously quiet one, convinces Elias she's not who she says she is. Light on incident, but heavy with portent, Franz and Fiala's lean script smuggles in exposition only when it's absolutely necessary, and their judgment regarding when to show things and when to leave them to the viewer's imagination is most astute. Now that they're on my radar, I look forward to seeing what they come up with next, either together or separate.