Review of The Awakening (2011) by Matt G — 06 May 2013

A finely crafted (from a technical viewpoint, at least) slow burn of a ghost story. At its heart, it has a pretty neat idea for a central character - a female paranormal debunker in the 1920s - and Rebecca Hall is terrific portraying the lead.

She quite nicely captures the character's initial confidence in her beliefs, and then slowly chips away at that as the film progresses. Additionally, there's some fine supporting work from the likes of West and Staunton, a meticulous attention to period detail (from the costumes and hairstyles to the set decoration), and some rather chilly, austere cinematography that fits the story's tone like a glove.

Unfortunately, the movie's set-up is much better than its pay-off, as things get quite convoluted and melodramatic in the third act, going into some quite implausible territory, even for a ghost story.

It doesn't cripple the entire movie, but it is something of a disappointing denouement. That said, I think it's still worth a look for fans of haunted house stories with a particularly British flavor.