The 2014 Austrian psychological horror film Goodnight Mommy is being reworked in English, and an Oscar nominee with a penchant for dark and tragic remakes will star.
Naomi Watts–who turned heads in the 2002 horror remake The Ring–has been cast in the lead of this new film from Amazon Studios, as reported by Variety.
In fact, this isn’t even the first time Watts has starred in an English-language remake of an Austrian horror film. The British actress also was in front of the cameras for the 2007 remake of Funny Games–a shot-by-shot reboot of the 1997 original film. Watts’ other genre films include Mulholland Drive (2001), King Kong (2005) and The Impossible (2012).
The Goodnight Mommy remake–directed by Matt Sobel from a screenplay by Kyle Warren–follows twin brothers who, when sent to stay with their mother, “are surprised to find her swathed in bandages from recent cosmetic facial surgery,” according to the film’s synopsis.
To add fuel to the fire, the twins suspect the woman is an imposter “as her behavior grows increasingly erratic and unusual.” Their suspicions set off “a roller coaster of emotional mind games and misunderstandings that eventually explodes with irreparable and heartbreaking consequences.”
In explaining the driving forces behind the remake, Sobel said the “fear of abandonment and the dreadful realization that those close to us may not be who they seem create an immersive nightmare, with visceral sensations front and center.”
The original Goodnight Mommy–written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala–was hardly a box office hit (earning just $2.2 million worldwide), but it did make several lists of the best horror films of 2014, and was Austria’s official selection for that year’s Academy Awards.
Keep reading Horror News Network for updates on the casting and production schedules for this Goodnight Mommy remake.
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