Sightlines · reception

How Goodnight Mommy was received

2015 · Severin Fiala · Goodnight Mommy on Sightlines

The arc

It premiered at Venice in 2014 as a chilly Austrian arthouse item, then blew up in the US in 2015 when its trailer went viral — and the lukewarm 2022 Naomi Watts remake only cemented the original's standing as the one to see.

What’s debated

The eternal fight: is the twist guessable in the first act, and if you clock it early, does that sink the film or is the dread the whole point?

Its footprint

Its 2015 US trailer was endlessly shared as 'the scariest trailer ever made,' introducing a generation of horror fans to Austrian art-horror — and making the masked twins and bandaged mother instantly recognizable imagery.

Where it stands

A fixture of 2010s 'elevated horror' and international-horror lists, usually filed alongside The Babadook and The Witch — with the standing cinephile footnote: watch the Austrian original, not the remake.

Did you know? Austria chose it as its official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2015 — a rare honor for a horror film — and directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala went on to make The Lodge (2019).