Archive of films Goodnight Mommy / Ich seh Ich seh

Austria
2014, 99 min

Section: Variety Critics’ Choice
Year: 2015

This psychologically unnerving thriller with a thoroughly bizarre plot plays out within the four cramped walls of a remote house. Twin boys begin to suspect that their mother, whose face is wrapped entirely in bandages, is not actually who she claims to be. As their waking moments morph into nightmare, a plot twist forces audiences to reconsider everything that came before.

Synopsis

A fairy tale for Dogtooth enthusiasts, this elegantly stylized, thoroughly unnerving thriller takes place in an austere, isolated Austrian home, where twin boys begin to suspect that something is wrong with their mother. But that’s only the beginning of this family’s dysfunction, as tension escalates to torture. Mommy looks monstrous when she comes home from the hospital, her body sexy but her face wrapped entirely in bandages. At least her two kids have each other. That seems to be the one thing stopping this scary-looking woman from doing something really cruel to one of them. Hiding a twist that forces audiences to reconsider everything that came before, the co-directors have dreamt up a home-invasion scenario where the aggressors lived there all along, cleverly constructing each scene so all can be explained, if only as dreams; and even the waking moments have a nightmarish feel.

Peter Debruge

About the director

Severin Fiala (b. 1985, Vienna) graduated in screenwriting from the Vienna Film Academy. After the short Elephant Skin (Elefantenhaut, 2009) he codirected the feature documentary Kern (with Veronika Franz, 2012), following the controversial Austrian director, actor, singer, and writer for a year and a half to capture his inner self. Veronika Franz (b. 1965, Vienna), known as husband Ulrich Seidl’s assistant director and co-scripter, collaborated on Dog Days (Hundstage, 2001) and the loose trilogy about contemporary middleclass women desperately seeking fulfillment and the meaning of life: Paradise: Faith (Paradies: Glaube, 2012), Paradise: Love (Paradies: Liebe, 2012), and Paradise: Hope (Paradies: Hoffnung, 2013). The psycho-horror flick Goodnight Mommy, codirected with Severin Fiala, took the main prize at this year’s Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

Contacts

Austrian Films
Stiftgasse 6, 1070, Vienna
Austria
Tel: +43 1 526 33 23
E-mail: [email protected]
www: austrianfilm.com

Playtime
5 rue Nicolas Flamel, 75004, Paris
France
Tel: +33 153 103 399
Fax: +33 153 103 398
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.filmsdistribution.com

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About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Variety Critics’ Choice

Director:	Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Screenplay:	Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Dir. of Photography:	Martin Gschlacht
Music:	Olga Neuwirth
Editor:	Michael Palm
Art Director:	Hannes Salat, Hubert Klausner
Producer:	Ulrich Seidl
Production:	Ulrich Seidl Film
Cast:	Susanne Wuest, Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz, Hans Escher, Elfriede Schatz
Sales:	Playtime
Contact:	Austrian Films

Guests

Veronika Franz

Severin Fiala

Camille Segura

Sales Agent

Martin Schweighofer

Film Institution Rep.