When grieving parents welcome a foster child into their home, they soon discover that the child has the miraculous ability to have his dreams come to life. While his dreams can be full of beauty and wonder, his nightmares carry a very real danger for those around him.
Before I Wake is directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Hush, Gerald’s Game). Flanagan has come to be one of my favorite directors over the years, and for this reason, I’ve been wanting to see Before I Wake for a very, very long time.
Why so much time, you may ask? Well, this film has been in production limbo for a while, to say the least. It was completed in 2016, but due to issues with the distribution company, it never received a wide release in the United States. I saw its release advertised a couple of times, and it was released in other countries, but it soon became apparent that a theatrical U.S. release wasn’t in the cards. I was always very disappointed about that.
In 2018, however, Netflix released the film for instant streaming as a Netflix original! Needless to say, I was gleefully sitting down to watch it as soon as possible.
Before I Wake stars Kate Bosworth (Straw Dogs, Still Alice, Blue Crush), Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea, The Punisher, 1922), Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder, The Book of Henry), and Annabeth Gish (The X-Files, The West Wing). It also features a role played by Dash Mihok (Ray Donovan, Romeo + Juliet, The Day After Tomorrow).
While the trailers for Before I Wake make it seem like it’s a run of the mill horror film, it would be better to consider this film a dark fantasy. I found it to be a multi-layered look at grief and loss. It’s full of child-like wonder. When the pieces start falling together as the story reaches its end, it left me with a strange feeling of togetherness in the face of loss.
This isn’t to say that the story is perfect. It does have its flaws. There are definitely some things that I wish were answered more clearly. It can seem very formulaic at times. I can definitely see some viewers not liking the fantasy elements of the film. I feel that there are many more positive things about Before I Wake than there are negative though.
Similar to all of Flanagan’s previous work, there is some pretty decent character development here. I particularly liked the arc that Kate Bosworth’s character journeyed through. Grieving from the loss of her biological son, Bosworth’s character must continue to come to terms with her loss and learn to properly love another child. Some of her actions are predictable, and those actions are despicable because of their predictability.
I enjoyed going through the journey into the psyche of this young boy, who has been plagued by so much loss and fear in his short life. Being able to put the pieces together and understand the events shown to me was a satisfying experience. Jacob Tremblay is also just an amazing young actor. He continues to show his strengths in every film I see him in.
Flanagan has a knack for crafting relatable characters, and the characters within this film are no different. I found that even the side characters have motivations that are understandable and easy to relate to in one way or another. For me, this creates a fully immersive experience.
I still wish that Before I Wake had received a wide theater release in the United States. At the same time, I wonder if the advertising campaign for this film would have hurt it. As I mentioned above, it’s not a run of the mill horror film. It may have some of the tropes, but if you’re looking for a straight up horror film, you won’t find it here. In the end, I’m just glad I was able to see it at all.
Before I Wake may not be Flanagan’s best film, but I think it’s a great experience to watch at least once. I find it to be one of those films where the story can be quite discussion worthy. I would recommend it. There are more than a handful of beautiful things to see here.
Advertisements Share this:
