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SFFILM Festival

Goodnight Mommy

Directed by Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Austria | 100

25 Apr
Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 11:00 pm PT

Description

A mother (Susanne Wuest) recovers from plastic surgery in an idyllic country retreat while her two fresh-faced young twin boys Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz) frolic about the house and in the nearby cornfields. What at first seems like an idyllic country paradise, however, is quickly shown to be rotten just beneath the surface. The boys are at home in nature. They collect bugs, play with animals, like to roughhouse and get a little dirty. Their fastidious mother sits in icy, stark contrast, much like their sleek, sterile, modern home juxtaposes the rustic countryside in which it is plopped. Mom needs absolute calm for her recovery and becomes increasingly annoyed and borderline abusive with her free-spirited children. They in turn begin to suspect that something might not be altogether right with her since her procedure. Austrian weirdo auteur Ulrich Siedl (The Paradise trilogy, In the Basement) produced Goodnight Mommy, and his distinctly odd, subtle flourishes of humor and style can be detected in its nooks and crannies. But writers/directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala craft a deliciously intense and genuinely exhausting thriller that is distinctly their own. With slow-burning tension that excruciatingly ratchets tighter and tighter from first frame to final credits, Goodnight Mommy will leave genre fans both exhilarated and exhausted. —Tim League

Director Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Severin Fala (left) attended the Film Academy in Vienna. He previously collaborated with Veronika Franz on Kern (2012), a documentary about Austrian actor/director Peter Kern. He also co-directed shorts Elephant Skin (2009) and The End of Walnut Grove (2013).

Veronika Franz (right) is a journalist and screenwriter as well as a filmmaker. With director (and Goodnight Mommy producer) Ulrich Seidl, she co-wrote the screenplays for his films Dog Days (2001), Jesus, You Know (2003), Import/Export (2007), Paradise: Love (2012), Paradise: Faith (2012) and Paradise: Hope (2013).

Trailer

//player.vimeo.com/video/122781422?autoplay=1

Film Details

Language German

Original Language Title Ich seh ich seh

Year 2014

Runtime 100

Country Austria

Director Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Producer Ulrich Seidl

Writer Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Editor Michael Palm

Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht

Music Olga Neuwirth

Cast Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz