Goodnight Mommy

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

Goodnight Mommy (2014) is a perfect “office movie”: one difficult to recommend to others and better when watched alone. It’s strong stuff. Young boys can be violent and ingenious, which is why the film feels like a cross between What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Lord of the Flies. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about how the film literalizes some of the metaphors we use to describe the parent / child relationship and whether or not its ending cheapens the horrors we’ve watched before approaching it. Is it better for a viewer to be held at a low boil without wholly understanding the stakes or to let the viewer in on a secret that explains everything?

The film dramatizes several ideas proposed by Sigmund Freud: here’s a robust, one-volume anthology of his most important works.

Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

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