- Directed by: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
- Written by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
- Stars: Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz, Suzanna Wuest
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lKm2Vct3x4
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Twin boys have moved to a big new house with their mother – who is bandaged and unrecognizable after facial surgery. But things seem off, and they get more so as the story unfolds and we get clues about what’s going on. It’s well made and acted, but it really drags. Kevin thought it was okay. Brian thought less of it than that. It makes lists of must-see horror films, but we aren’t sure why.
Spoilery Synopsis
After a creepy goodnight lullaby, we cut to two boys playing hide-and-seek in a cornfield. Elias and Lukas are twin brothers. Credits roll.
A car drives up, and the boys run to meet their mother, who has returned home after surgery. Her face is all bandaged, and the boys are a little afraid of her. Mother makes dinner for Elias but ignores Lukas entirely. Is he real?
Mother has new rules: she wants no noise at all and no visitors. She needs to avoid sunlight. The boys whisper to each other that she’s different, not like their mom.
One day, the boys find a pit full of skulls and bones. That’s OK, because there’s a cat there they can play with. They take the cat home with them, but mother doesn’t see it.
When night comes around, mother takes off all her clothes and walks through the dark woods. The twins collect giant cockroaches, and they put one in her bed that night, and she swallows it in her sleep.
They boys go online and see that their house is for sale. They put a baby monitor in her room under the bed to spy on her. Mother talks about making him face it. They boys go looking for the cat, but can’t find it. When they do find the cat, he’s dead.
Elias accuses the mother of not being their mother, and she gets upset at that. She punishes him but seems to ignore Lukas entirely. He dreams about cutting her open and letting out all the cockroaches inside her.
Eventually, mother loses the bandages, looking like her old self, but the boys are still suspicious. They boys run away to the nearby town, which seems mostly deserted. They go to a church there asking for the priest to take them to the police for help, but the man simply drives them home. She talks to the priest, “It was all a bit much– the accident, the separation.”
In the morning, Mama wakes up tied to the bed. The boys want to know where their mother is. This goes on for quite a while, as Elias torments her. He’s about to release her when he realizes the mole on her face is only drawn on; his real mother had a real mole. She says it was removed in the surgery. They torture her with sunlight through a magnifier to burn her.
For some reason, the Red Cross stops by wanting a donation. Mother’s gagged and can’t make much noise, so the boys say she’s out. They decide to wait for her return. Finally Elias gives them a 50 out of mom’s purse just to get them to go away. They end up supergluing her mouth shut, but then they have to cut it open to feed her.
Elias eventually cuts her loose to change the bedsheets, and she runs off. They’ve got the place booby-trapped, so she doesn’t get far. She promises to talk to Lukas again if he lets her go; “He’ll be alive again.” She tells him the accident wasn’t his fault. Lukas tells Elias that she’s lying.
Elias sets the house on fire, and Mother is glued to the floor. She burns to death, so Elias goes to hide in the cornfield. Now he sees his real mother, right there with Lukas!
Brian’s Commentary
No one ever seems to notice Lukas, so we figured early on that he was imaginary, or a ghost or something. This question takes far too long to play out, and it becomes so obvious after a while.
I’ve seen this on several “Top Horror Films” lists, and thought it ought to be pretty good. It was not. I don’t see the attraction to the film at all. The “twist” was pretty obvious, even early on, and the rest was pretty drawn-out and dull.
Kevin’s Commentary
There were enough clues given that I guessed early in the film that Lukas was dead and Elias was imagining him still alive. And it becomes clearer later.
Well into the movie, Brian commented that he’s tired of boring horror movies, and I had to agree. This is mighty slow-moving for the first long part. Things build very slowly for a long time. The finish livens things up a little.
Those were the two pushiest and most entitled Red Cross volunteers ever.
I thought it was too easy to figure out what was going on too early, and getting to the conclusion seemed like a bit of a slog. It’s well made, and I was impressed with the acting. But I give it low marks for entertainment value.
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