Movie Title: Goodnight Mommy / Ich seh, ich seh
Release Date: August 30, 2014 — Venice Film Festival premiere; Austrian theatrical release followed on January 5, 2015. U.S. theatrical release was September 11, 2015.
Runtime: 99–100 minutes — production source lists 99 minutes; Wikipedia lists 100 minutes; Box Office Mojo lists 1 hr 39 min.
Director: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Screenplay Written By: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Based On: Original screenplay
Is it a remake?: No. This is the original 2014 Austrian film. A 2022 American remake starring Naomi Watts was later released by Amazon Studios.

Main Cast:

Susanne Wuest as Mother
Elias Schwarz as Elias
Lukas Schwarz as Lukas
Hans Escher as Priest
Elfriede Schatz as Red Cross Collector
Karl Purker as Red Cross Collector
Georg Deliovsky as Pizza Delivery Man
Christian Steindl as Sexton
Christian Schatz as Farmer
Erwin Schmalzbauer as Accordion God

Budget:

Insufficient verified data. A reliable, consistently reported production budget was not found in the checked sources.

Box Office:

Domestic: $1,178,196
International: $1,015,278
Worldwide: $2,193,474
U.S. opening: $63,641 from 4 theaters
U.S. distributor: RADiUS-TWC

Awards:

Selected as Austria’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Nominated for the Venice Horizons Award / Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.
Named one of the National Board of Review Top 5 Foreign Language Films of 2015.
Production source lists multiple festival and critics’ awards, including Best Feature and Best Director at the Austrian Film Prize, Fangoria Chainsaw Award: Best Foreign Language Film, Méliès d’Or, and Best Foreign Language Film from the St. Louis Film Critics Association.

Short Plot Summary:

After their mother returns home from facial surgery with her face covered in bandages, twin brothers Elias and Lukas begin to suspect the woman in the house may not really be their mother. Her cold behavior, strict new rules, and disturbing distance intensify their paranoia. The isolated country home becomes a psychological battleground between the children’s fear and the mother’s authority. The film is an Austrian psychological horror story built around identity, family trauma, and mistrust.

Key Quotes:

“Du bist nicht unsere Mutter.”
Translation: “You are not our mother.”
Context: The central accusation of the film — and the emotional and psychological turning point.

Trivia

Director:
- Goodnight Mommy was the first fiction feature by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala after their documentary collaboration Kern.
- The directors described the film as both a horror movie and an auteur film, emphasizing “physical cinema” and family power dynamics.
- The film premiered in the Orizzonti / Horizons section at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.
Cast / Casting:
- Elias Schwarz and Lukas Schwarz are real-life twins, matching the film’s central twin-brother premise.
- Susanne Wuest reportedly prepared for the role by living alone for three months and spending time wrapped in bandages.
Soundtrack / Score:
- The score was composed by Olga Neuwirth.
- Insufficient verified data on a commercial soundtrack release.
Location:
- The film is set around an isolated modern country house surrounded by forests and fields.
- Specific verified filming-location details were not found in the checked sources.
Behind-The-Scenes:
- The film was produced by Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion GmbH, with support from ORF, the Austrian Film Institute, Wiener Filmfonds, Niederösterreich Kultur, and Land Niederösterreich.
- It was shot in 35mm with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
- The German title Ich seh, ich seh comes from the German phrase used for the game “I spy”: “I see, I see, what you do not see.”
Nostalgia:
- The film’s U.S. marketing became notable in horror circles after online discussion labeled its trailer as especially frightening. MTV coverage referenced the trailer’s reputation as possibly “the scariest of all time.”
- Its premise later gained renewed attention when the 2022 American remake introduced the story to a streaming audience.
Easter Eggs:
- Insufficient verified data. No clearly sourced intentional Easter eggs were found in the checked sources.
Misc:
- The film is known in the UK as Goodnight Mummy.
- It was distributed in the U.S. by RADiUS-TWC and reached a widest release of 90 theaters.
- The original film’s success directly led to the 2022 American remake directed by Matt Sobel and starring Naomi Watts.