Within the context of 1956's German family feature "The Trapp Family" (a key inspiration for 1959 Broadway musical "The Sound of Music" and its 1965 film adaptation starring Julie Andrews), the sight of Ruth Leuwerik singing Johannes Brahms's "Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht" surrounded by her character's adorable brood of stepchildren makes for a heartwarming cinematic adieu. When isolated and made the prologue of ominous dark fable "Goodnight Mommy," this innocuous clip is suddenly enshrouded by a distinctly unsettling foreboding as Leuwerik croons the line (translated from German), "Tomorrow morning, if it is God's will, you will wake once again." Long before writer-directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz get through with their audience, this gentle lullaby will more closely resemble a threat of shuddersome woe.
In an idyllic patch of remote Austrian countryside, 10-year-old twins Elias (Elias Shwarz) and Lukas (Lukas Schwarz) live with their mother (Susanne Wuest) in a hyper-modern, impeccably furnished dwelling on the edge of a large wood. The brothers busy their days playing cornfield hide-and-seek, exploring caves, and lazing around in a nearby lake. When they return home, they are more hesitant, even suspicious, of the person waiting for them. Her head wrapped in thick, white gauze, Elias and Lukas' mom has taken a suspected leave of absence from her news anchor job to recuperate from surgery. The brothers notice she isn't her old self—she asks for strict peace and quiet, for one, and is certainly more aloof toward Lukas, with whom she is unhappy for reasons unknown. During a game of Twenty Questions, she acts as if she is unaware of her career when the boys choose her as their mystery answer. Unleashing one of their pet cockroaches on her bed, the boys watch as she doesn't so much as flinch as the bug disappears inside her mouth. With no one else around—the closest town is all but entirely desolate, save for a priest (Hans Escher) and an accordion player (Erwin Schmalzbauer)—Elias and Lukas are determined to worm the truth out of the imposter they believe is living with them.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
