Screenpopp

Intensely creepy.  It has an uneasy vibe established right from the start.  An unrelenting and unnerving undercurrent of fear and dread. Following a horrific auto accident, a single mother returns to her country home and to her twin pre-adolescent sons. Severely damaged in the crash, her face is concealed in a grotesque guise of gauze and tape. From here we see the story from the point of view of the boys, who are very suspicious of the woman who is supposed to be their mother.  The ending is viciously cruel and paved mercilessly with unspeakable grief and atrocity. It is Austrian film with subtitles, but don’t worry, the dialogue is sparse, so you’re not reading the whole time. What is important is what’s on screen; a palpable sense of dread and panic. The movie makes you think and put pieces together and even if you figure out the “twist”, you still watch waiting to see where it goes.

4 stars

Reviewed by: Maurizio Marchese on December 31, 2015