Review of Before I Wake (2016) by Ageeknamedbob — 06 Jan 2018

While finally released on January 5th, 2017, Mike Flanagan's Before I Wake was completed and set for release in 2015, until Relatively Media went under, leaving Before I Wake to sleep on a shelf. Now that Netflix has grasped onto Flanagan, it's no surprise they picked up the rights to the film.  Through the company Flanagan presented two of the best films of 2016 and 2017: Hush  and Gerald's Game, respectfully. Next on the docket is a limited series version of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting.  I'm very excited for this prospect.  .

Before I Wake was made after the "this-is-great-you-should-seek-it-out" Absentia and the under-rated Oculus.  Like those two films, Before I Wake deals with family issues through a horror setting. This decade's best-child-actor Jacob Tremblay (Room, the Brie Larson one, not oh hai Mark!), is a troubled orphan who keeps moving from foster home to foster home. He's not a bad kid, he just has a bad gift. His dreams come to life. This can bring happiness - such as ethereal, brightly colored versions of his favorite animal the butterfly - but with a dark edge underneath. There is an element of the monkey's paw. His dreams allow his new family (Thomas Jane and Kate Bosworth) to see their deceased son (Thomas Jane, again, "just wants his kids back"), but only in the one repeated memory Tremblay can see. As to be expected, there is an evil below it all corrupting it all.  This being the thankfully-practical Canker Man. .

Usually, when a film is shelved for so long, it's a stinker. While Before I Wake isn't as strong as it's Flanagan brethren, it's a solid film.  Although many will approach as a horror film, the supernatural is to build the family drama at the core. That doesn't mean the scares aren't well done, there is a fantastic look to both the film on the whole and the horror sequences. The sense of unease pervades, even in the earlier, more  innocent dream visions. Most importantly, we feel for the adoptive parents and child.  The only real issue is the film is a little longer than the concept provides, there is a repetitiveness as those around Tremblay begin to figure what is happening; causing the film to have a lack of urgency. .

Like all of Mike Flanagan's work, there is a respect for the audence of the film, allowing the characters and sequences to stand on their own, without unnessessary jump scares and stupid decisiouns in order to get a scream. Although not as good as the other Flanagan canon, Before I Wake is a film to stay up for.