Goodnight Mommy (2022)

Twin brothers Elias and Lukas have stayed with their father following their parents' divorce. When they return home to live with their estranged mother, a former actress, they are disturbed to find that her entire head is covered in bandages after having cosmetic surgery. The mother (who is never named) enforces some house rules which include not entering her room, or the barn. While playing in the fields, the boys cannot resist exploring the barn, where they find their old toys. Their mother catches them and decrees that from now on, they have to stay in the country house.

The boys are unsettled by their mother's behavior and apparent disinterest in reconnecting with them; she drinks heavily, has a short temper, and refuses to sing them the lullaby she sang to them when they were children. Elias also discovers that his mother has thrown away a drawing he made of the three of them. One night, Elias overhears his mother talking to an unknown person on the phone, saying she cannot go on pretending and wants him gone.

After seeing an old photograph of their mother with a different eye color, the boys begin to question whether the woman they are living with is their real mother. When they try to call their father, their mother breaks their shared cell phone. One night, while she is taking a bath, Elias tries to remove the skincare face mask she is wearing. An argument ensues. After Elias asserts that she is not actually their mother, she slaps him, then sprays him with freezing cold water until he admits he is wrong.

The boys leave in the middle of the night and try to seek help at a nearby house, only to find that it is abandoned. They break in to spend the night, but two local state troopers find them and return them home. Their mother, who has now removed her bandage, insists they are imagining things and tells the police that the injury on Elias' lip is from accidentally slipping and falling by the pool.

The next morning, the mother awakens to find herself bound to the bed with duct tape. She demands to be freed and explains that her eye color is different in the photo because she wore green contact lenses as an actress. She insists that the contacts are in her purse, but Lukas claims he searched the purse and did not find them. Elias feels apprehensive about leaving their mother trapped, but Lukas convinces him to escape. While they are waiting for a taxi, Elias pretends he forgot his toothbrush and returns to the house, where he searches his mother's purse and finds the contacts. Lukas appears and begs Elias to let him explain. Elias flees to the bedroom to free their mother while Lukas disappears.

The mother takes Elias to the barn and shows him a blood-stained bullet hole in the wall. Upon seeing it, Elias breaks down; it is revealed that Elias accidentally shot and killed Lukas, and has been hallucinating Lukas' presence this entire time. Following Lukas' death, the mother lost herself to grief, resulting in her divorce and her estrangement from Elias. The mother attempts to console Elias, but in a confused rage, he lashes out and pushes her from the barn loft; her lantern shatters and sets fire to the barn. Elias flees and tearfully watches the barn burn to the ground. Both his mother and brother Lukas appear at his side. With a smile, his mother tells him he has done nothing wrong, and they embrace.