Movie Review: Before I Wake Is Confused Filmmaking at its Worst
The performances of the leads are delightful but unfortunately, that’s where it stops – everything else in this horror drama disappoints
Before I Wake is the latest entrant in the ‘new horror’ genre. There are no creepy forests, no dilapidated bungalows and certainly no wicked witches. Instead, there’s a solid origin to it all.
Mark (Thomas Jane) and Jessie (Kate Bosworth) decide to adopt a child even as they try to get their lives together after a great personal loss.
In their lives comes Cody (Jacob Tremblay), a sweet, innocent kid who has a bunch of problems – and none of them is what a ‘normal’ kid would have. What path the couple takes as a family forms the rest of the film.
The movie starts as a typical one from the horror genre but loses steam within the first few minutes.
The script comes across as a highly confused one. It bounces from one genre to another – there are traces of horror, suspense, supernatural and superhero. In the middle of it all, Before I Wake tries to be a drama too.
Adding to the film being a drag is a lazy screenplay that just refuses to add any spice.
Before I Wake fails to keep the audience interested because there’s not a scribble of work gone into creating the three main characters.
This is a film about a strange kid who’s adopted by a family comfortable catching a late night black-and-white movie with the wife curled up beside the husband. Surprisingly, apart from that solitary scene of the couple, we don’t know much about the two.
Before I Wake is a visual delight though, but it all falls flat because of its weak story. Even the climactic scene that’s shot in a beautiful manner does nothing for the audience.
Another saving grace is the performance of the lead characters. The director has definitely made this a Kate Bosworth film, and the screen lights up every time she comes in the frame.
Jacob Tremblay holds his own as the troubled kid and the audience will have some ‘Oh no!’ moments when his story opens up.
Thomas Jane had a memorable role as Marvel’s Punisher and is quite comfortable playing the hubby who... sorry, no spoilers here.
In a nutshell, Before I Wake has a highly interesting concept but we cannot recommend it to fans of any genre – whether it’s suspense, horror, sci-fi or drama.
Image Source: facebook/BeforeIWakeMovie
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