Am I on a foreign horror movie kick right now? Not really. I decided to switch from Shudder to AMC+ since it includes Shudder, and this Austrian horror movie is leaving the service soon. It is on my Fill-In Filmography, so there was a decent enough reason to tune into this one, and since I am getting AMC+ through Apple TV+, I get the added bonus that watching the movie will automatically take it off my watchlist. That is the only app on my smart TV that does that for some reason.
That said, a big time warning right here: this is a European horror movie, and my experience with them suggests they are far more brutal than many American films. And this one, well, it fits that pattern. This one was a rough watch. That doesn’t make it a bad watch, but this is my warning here for anyone curious enough to check it out.
Young twin brothers Elias and Lukas (Elias and Lukas Schwarz) have a problem. A woman who claims to be their mother (Susanne Wuest) is living with them, her face heavily bandaged. The boys’ mother had been a member of a choir that used to sing on television, and she seems to have gotten some facial reconstruction surgery. But is this woman the boys’ mother? She says she is. The boys, for a variety of reasons, aren’t sure. They find her behavior and reactions to different things happening in and around the house don’t seem quite right. Lukas in particular seems to think the woman is an imposter, and the boys spend a lot of time pouring over old photos, looking for clues.
By the by, this movie is somewhat famous for its ending. I more or less knew what it was before watching it because, well, I got it spoiled for me. I don’t really mind that sort of thing all that much, and quite frankly, that means I can watch the movie and keep an eye out for foreshadowing. The point is, the way the mother is acting “off” is something that might tip off any reader I might have here on what the ending is, so I won’t say more than what I already have. But the foreshadowing is good, and that might alone prove worth paying attention to for anyone looking to give the movie a second viewing.
However, as I said above, this movie is a bit brutal. The brothers eventually decide this woman is not their mother, so they go to particularly cruel lengths to find out where their real mother actually is. The woman, of course, keeps claiming she is their mother, but they don’t really believe her. What is going on here? Are the boys wrong, or is this woman someone else?
Besides the brutality, this movie really worked for what it was trying to be, namely as a psychological thriller where a woman and two small boys match wits, and the boys are actually winning. No matter what she says, the boys can’t seem to accept she might be their mother. She’s just not right for some reason. Much of that may be due to the fact the brothers are very young and may not understand more adult and mature situations. But as this is no kids movie, the audience should, and that’s what makes this movie so horrifying. With a final shot suggesting whatever problems this family is experiencing isn’t over yet, I don’t think I will be forgetting this excellent and well-made movie anytime soon. Just keep in mind it is not for the faint of stomach.
Grade: A
0 Comments