In the upcoming remake of the same-titled 2014 Austrian horror movie, which will be released on Prime Video, Watts will co-star with Big Little Lies alumni Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti, Peter Hermann.
When twin brothers Cameron and Nicholas (ages 14) visit their mother in the country and see that her face is covered in bandages as a result of recent cosmetic surgery, she claims they know something is amiss.
She behaves entirely differently from the mother they once knew: She enforces strange house rules, smokes in her bathroom, and covertly destroys a drawing they created for her. The boys start to question whether their mother is really hiding behind the gauze as her conduct becomes increasingly odd.
Every role demands that Watts, 53, "examines some aspect of myself; perhaps something deep within me that has been unlocked will come through."
"Although a consistent theme has run through my career, I always look for assignments that might teach me something new. This was not any different, she adds. To confront such darkness was truly harrowing. Undoubtedly, it was one of the most difficult characters I've ever performed. With some of her decisions, it was nearly impossible to relate to her.
With her young co-stars, Watts claims to have taken extra precautions, saying, "I was painfully conscious of how cautious I needed to be with this specific material.
After a difficult moment, "I was continually monitoring in with them and their mom," she recalls. I tried to joke around with them and maintain a light mood since it was crucial to me to maintain some humor.
Matt Sobel, the director, continues by saying that he thinks the original movie "combine(s) fascinating mystery and thrills with deep and evocative emotion."
And when creating the new movie, which leans more toward the psychological thriller than the horror subgenre, "I saw an opportunity to keep this unique blend while injecting a brand new set of ideas we wanted to explore," Sobel says.