I happened to plop down on my couch and decided to find something on Prime Video instead of Netflix and I decided to hit play on this gem. I didn’t know this was a remake, but now, that I knew this information I decided to go ahead and watch the original.
After watching both movies I figured I would do the right thing and report my opinion to all my fellow avid movie watchers.
Which Mommy Said Goodnight The Best?
Yes, this is a post comparing the Goodnight Mommy 2022 movie against the original Goodnight Mommy that was released in 2014. Before we start this comparison smackdown, this is how the show will go!
I will select which movie I felt did best in, cinematography, storytelling, scare factor, and an overall winner.
What is the plot?
Goodnight Mommy is a tale of a mother who gets face reconstruction just for funsies. She never takes off her face bandage, and according to her twin sons, her behavior is odd. This leads the twins to believe that this is not their mother, but rather someone else.
Which movie wins in cinematography?
The 2022 Version of the movie wins. I am not saying that the original movie was terrible. The cinematography is my personal preference in regards to what I felt was pleasant to look at while watching the story unfold. I enjoy looking at glossy rich highly produced videos since I am always looking at YouTube content.
The 2014 version’s cinematography is perfectly shot for how the film is delivered as it is more gritty, intense, and enhances the emotions felt when viewing the movie. I did like how they didn’t opt for the usual dark shadowy look and instead did a bright horror movie which is hard for many to get away with when it comes to this genre.
Which movie wins in storytelling?
The original 2014 movie. The storytelling in this film was a bit better because it didn’t solely rely on the characters’ dialogue. If you are an observant person you picked up on the film’s context clues in certain scenes, such as when they were playing the game, when the diner was served, along with many other scenes.
There were additional scenes in the original movie that were not in the remake, which I believe came down to the creative direction. Obviously, they didn’t want to duplicate the film, because what would be the point of creating the same exact thing? Yet, they could have taken the time to put in their own elements to make their version of the film more memorable.
The one thing that I did really like about the 2022 version, was when the twins find Mother’s headshot and compare her eyes. They confront their Mother about her eye color which makes you realize these kids are just fucking crazy.
Which movie is scarier?
Without a single doubt, the original 2014 version. Even the bandages on Mother’s face were scarier than the pretty slide-on face bandage that Naomi Watts had on her face. The beetles that Elias and Lukas kept were not in the American version of the film, but the entire time I kept thinking who the hell lets their kids keep these gross-ass beetles in their home anyway?
The kids’ dreams were freaky, especially the scene where their Mommy goes out and strips in the woods and she does that crazy head-warping speed thing straight out of a horror film.
Lastly, the torture of their Mother was gruesome. I wanted to jump into that movie and just shake the shit out of those little psychopaths I was so angry.
Which movie wins all?
The original. At first, this was a tie for me because I did like both of them for very different reasons, however, the film I am going to remember is the original due to how terrifying it truly was. Whereas the American remake of the film was very pretty to look at it, it was also pretty forgettable.
To break it down even further the American version is something you would put on in the background as you work on a project. The original movie is something you would watch once and remember how uncomfortable it made you, but you tell all your friends about it because it’s sitting in your brain.
Will I ever watch these movies again just because? Most likely not.
If you are someone that loves ratings. I would give the American remake 2/5 stars, and the original movie 3.5/5 stars.
Both versions of the movie are available right now for you to view
