'Goodnight Mommy' review: Relentlessly grim remake

WHAT IT'S ABOUT The American remake of the 2014 Austrian horror movie "Goodnight Mommy" stars Naomi Watts opposite twins Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti ("Big Little Lies") in the story of boys who come to stay with their estranged mother at her secluded home and become convinced the person claiming to be her is actually an impostor.

Elias (Cameron) and Lucas (Nicholas) have some good reasons to feel this way about mom (Watts), referred to only as "Mother." Her entire face has been wrapped in bandages because of cosmetic surgery; she's become a distant and harsh figure, prone to outbursts directed at Elias. She's even gone so far as to tear up Elias' sweet drawing of the family.

The movie, streaming on Prime Video and directed by Matt Sobel (Netflix's "Brand New Cherry Flavor"), only gets darker from there.

MY SAY It's important to be careful when throwing around terms like "feel-bad movie," because there is no obligation for a movie to make its viewers feel good or uplifted. If cinema is meant to be a heightened reflection of life, it must take into account the joys and the sorrows in equal measure.

That being said, "Goodnight Mommy" is most definitely a "feel-bad movie" in every sense, a glum journey through a desaturated landscape. 

It's made with purpose, as Sobel generates an atmosphere marked by dread and unease, and there's an admirable consistency to his vision. He and screenwriter Kyle Warren refuse to relent from the darkness by allowing so much as a hint of optimism to permeate the surface.

The visual style reflects the dichotomy between what should be the closest relationship possible, that of a mother and her children, and the growing physical and emotional distance taking root here.

The characters are defined by this space, mere whispers of those they once were and faced with the impossible task of rebuilding something that was lost long ago. 

The movie generates its horror by working within this psychological framework to explore the larger currents of grief and guilt that have taken root in this family and torn it apart.

It's just all so cold and distancing. The experience of watching "Goodnight Mommy" and trying to find something that grabs you and compels you to become invested in the story resembles that of standing in an art gallery and trying to contemplate a particularly opaque installation.

You can appreciate it intellectually, but there isn't that visceral impact, that connection on the sort of gut level necessary for any work of art to truly resonate.

The performances might have offered a way into the soul here, but while Watts and the Crovettis appropriately play their characters as haunted, enigmatic people, that's hardly conducive to creating much in the way of audience engagement.

So what's left is a movie that's been made with skill and careful attention that also leaves no lasting impact, other than the vague sense that you've spent about 100 minutes being severely bummed out.

BOTTOM LINE This is not a bad movie but it's so relentlessly grim that it's hard to recommend.