Before I Wake Review (2016)
Spoiler-free so you can read before you watch
by Yo Adrian on November 13th, 2019 | Movie Review | Supernatural, Drama, Psychological, Orphan, Killer Kid
Before I Wake was directed by Mike Flanagan (who also directed Oculus, Hush and Gerald's Game) and stars Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane (from The Mist and Deep Blue Sea) and child actor Jacob Tremblay who also stars in The Predator remake. It’s about a couple who adopt a boy after losing their own, only to learn that their new son carries some baggage in the form of his dreams (and nightmares) coming true.
Fear Your Dreams
Before I Wake was marketed to be a horror movie with an emphasis on creepy imagery and jump scares.
What you get is a movie about grief and loss, from both the perspective of a couple who lost their son and from an orphan who lost his mom. There's creepy imagery, but it's not "scary" in the way you'd expect, since all of the horror elements are from the perspective of a kid and therefore more reminiscent of a Goosebumps episode than a horror you might be expecting.
I think this might be the cause of all the negativity this movie attracted, people went into it thinking it was going to be a wild ride but ended up getting something closer to The Babadook or The Sixth Sense .
This movie, for what it is, was surprisingly good. Everything works, from the whimsical imagery of the butterflies to the "cancerman" creature that torments the orphan (and everyone else he comes in contact with). There were a few things I thought were strange that I just rolled my eyes at, only to learn later they were actually very cleverly placed and made perfect sense within the context of the story. Hard to explain without coughing up spoilers so I'll just leave it at this, every detail was how it was for a reason.
The movie could have pulled back some on the whole grief aspect, since they kept beating that horse loooong after grief was established. We get it, everyone's sad. Moving on...
But overall it's a quality movie that is probably a great fit for fans of slow burns, emotional types and for family's.
The Verdict:
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Founder and Executive Director of all things Horrific at AllHorror.com (Ok, actually I'm just a guy who watches way too many horror movies. It's unhealthy, really).
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