Naomi Watts to star in American remake of Goodnight Mommy for Amazon

According to Variety, Naomi Watts has signed on to star in an American remake of cult classic Austrian film Goodnight Mommy for Amazon Studios, with Take Me To The River’s Matt Sobel directing and original directors Severin Fiala and Veronicka Franz involved as executive producers (though how much involvement that actually entails is anyone’s guess). We won’t spoil the original for anyone lucky enough to have missed it (it’s good but it’s a lot), but the basic premise is that it’s about two twins whose mother returns from some kind of operation with her face covered in bandages, leading them to conclude that she’s been replaced by an imposter. From there… it goes to some places.

In a statement, Sobel referred to the story as an “immersive nightmare” with “visceral sensations front and center,” so it seems safe to assume that this remake will also go to some similar places. We obviously don’t know if or how this new version will alter what happens in the original, but it will be interesting to see how long Watts’ face stays bandaged since it’s pretty crucial to the “What’s really going on?” nature of plot, but also Naomi Watts is famous and you don’t make her the star of your movie if you’re going to put her in bandages for most of it. Or maybe you do? That’s for Matt Sobel to decide.