Goodnight Mommy ending explained: What happened to Lucas?
The new film is a remake of the 2014 Austrian horror of the same name – and includes the same twist ending.
New horror flick Goodnight Mommy arrived on Prime Video this week – telling the chilling story of two twin boys who suspect something isn't right with their mother.
If that premise sounds familiar, it's because the film is a direct adaptation of the Austrian horror of the same name, which garnered much acclaim following its release in 2014.
This American version stars Naomi Watts in the lead role and follows the original story very faithfully, right up to the shocking twist ending in the final moments.
If you need that ending unpacked, then we have everything you need to know below – so read on to have the Goodnight Mommy ending explained.
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Goodnight Mommy ending explained
The film follows twins Elias and Lukas, who reckon that their mother – who is heavily bandaged following major facial surgery – might not be who she says she is.
The suspicions begin when their mother begins behaving in unfamiliar ways, forgetting words to their favourite bedtime song and not letting them play in the outdoor barn as usual.
She also begins to show signs of anger, especially when the boys ask questions, while her eyes appeared to have changed colour from blue to green.
These concerns seem to be vindicated when the boys spot a mysterious trail of blood, and they become convinced that their real mother has been kidnapped and replaced with an imposter, and that it is up to them to save her.
Her outbursts become increasingly common, and on one occasion she even forces the boys to flee after lashing out at them, only for them to be returned back home to her by the police – when it is revealed that she has taken off her bandages.
This prompts them to take matters into their own hands, and the boys tie her to her bed, but the mother later manages to convince Elias to let her go.
At this point, Elias begins to see things more clearly and comes to realise that Lukas has been influencing him into behaving as he has done – even finding green contact lenses in his mother's purse that explain the change in eye colour.
With their mother now freed, Elias discovers that Lukas is nowhere to be seen – which leads us to the major twist: it turns out that he his brother had actually died sometime earlier.
Elias had accidentally shot Lukas while playing a game in the barn – which explains the blood trail – and unable to deal with the guilt, he had been seeing manifestations of Lukas ever since. This also explains why his mother had been behaving differently towards him, as she too had been grief-stricken.
Sadly, however, Elias is unwilling to accept this version of events – overcome with anger, he pushes his mother off a pillar in the barn before setting it on flames and fleeing the scene.
Goodnight Mommy is streaming on Prime Video – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
