Review of The Awakening (2011) by Stephen F — 04 Oct 2011
A period ghost story given the kind of deluxe treatment only those TV companies not having to shell out for a dozen episodes of "Downton" each year can afford... It manages one genuine coup de cinema at the moment of revelation, when Florence discovers the same formative scene of trauma playing out in several rooms at once, yet too often Murphy directs in a way that defeats its primary purpose: you end up cooing at its design, rather than jumping out of your seat.
The conservatism of the period movie comes to stifle the subversive instincts of the scary movie: you spot it in the way the plot seeks out respectability, to tidy up and return everybody to their rightful place.
What's frightening about the ghosts and monsters in this skilful yet ultimately muffled exercise that they're ugly or damaged in some other way; they have to be banished, because they just don't fit in with the decor.
This review of The Awakening (2011) was written by Stephen F on 04 Oct 2011.
The Awakening has generally received mixed reviews.
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