Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Review of BEFORE I WAKE: Delicate Dread

July 3, 2016



The poster looked eerie and its tagline sounds interesting. Even if there was hardly any publicity for this film and the lead actors were not exactly top-tier, I am always game for a good horror film, so I still went to watch this one.

Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane) Hobson are a couple still recovering from the loss of their little boy Sean who died in a freak bathtub accident. To help them move on, they decided to adopt a foster child, Cody (Jacob Tremblay). Eventually, they realize that when Cody dreams of something, it becomes a reality. At first, these dreams were all pleasant and wondrous. Later on, they would take a turn for the ghastly and deadly.

It was a most welcome surprise that the kid playing the foster child Cody was portrayed by none other than Jacob Tremblay, the wonder boy who impressed us all with his performance in the Oscar-nominated indie film "Room." I personally thought that Tremblay should have been at least nominated for an Oscar himself for portraying and pulling off such a challenging role.  In this follow-up film, he was again the center of story. Tremblay was able to successfully tread that delicate line between innocence and menace his character had.

It was good to see Kate Bosworth on the big screen again. Like Brandon Routh, her career seemed to have stalled after the ill-fated "Superman Returns" (2006) where she played Lois Lane. Since then, I have not really heard anything of note about her, until I saw her here again (which is not to say that this film is of any great note). Her performance was solid here as the grieving mother Jessie, who still longed for her dead son, a portrayal you can empathize with.

The Thomas Jane I saw here was a shadow of the Thomas Jane who we remember best as "The Punisher" (2004). He seemed to just be coasting along here, with nothing distinctly remarkable about his performance as the father Mark. Annabeth Gish I remember as Agent Monica Reyes on the forgettable Season 10 of "The X-Files". She played the social worker who facilitated Cody's adoption with the Hobsons. Her limited role did not really give her any dramatic opportunities. 

This film had been sold as a horror film when it was more of a dramatic film. The "horror" lay in some disturbing scenes, nothing really terrifying. There were not even any true jump scares. However, an effectively creepy atmosphere had been created to make the dramatic storyline more compelling and unique. The fear and foreboding factor is heightened because the story involves young children, a familiar trope in many horror films. The very first time we see Cody's dreams turn from whimsical to ghoulish would count as the scariest scene.

Writer-director-editor Mike Flanagan had to also tread a line between tenderness and dread which his story called for. He was able to do so with effective performances by Tremblay and Bosworth, aided by appropriate visual effects, both delicate and nightmarish. Overall though, it succeeds more as a drama than as horror. 6/10.

13 comments:

  1. Yes, the poster looks scary but I'll try to watch this film. Watching this film in the afternoon suits my personality. Children for this film adds some other dimension in creating an eerie feeling.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was reading your post on my iPhone. When I scrolled down, the scary poster caught me off guard! Lol! I liked the way you do the movie reviews. I avoid horror movies because I tend to recall them at night and then I have trouble sleeping. I'm looking forward thought to other movie reviews in the future. My husband and I like watching comedy films and superhero movies. :) We watched Central Intelligence last weekend and it was hilarious! Not all comedy films are funny, as you know. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is the first time I've heard of this film. I wonder why it wasn't advertised. I am not much into horror but it sounds interesting. I like watching films that aren't star-studded either.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my!~ The poster looks scary!~ I dunno if I can take this kind of movie or not.. but your review sounds good..

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd watch the movie just to see Jake!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just love to watch horror movies.Thanks for letting me add this one to my future watch list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's a big drop (in rating) for Jacob from his "Room"! I am not sure if I will be catching this film in the cinemas though... :/

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm not sure I would like this because of the disturbing and creepy theme. Though the drama aspect may make up for it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. When I opened your post, the poster instantly creeped me out. Though you said it was more of a drama than a horror film, I might still skip watching this in the big screen.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The poster looks really creepy. But it has no jump scares?! What kind of horror movie has no jump scares haha! Meh, don't think this would be worth catching in the cinemas... I have a boy myself so I wouldn't want to scare myself with this movie as well...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Now this is the kind of film I wanna watch even if im alone lol

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am not really into creepy movies but when I watch, I always see to it that I have a group with me to watch together. I have seen the trailer of this and as for me, it's interesting. I am plotting what could be the ending of it, well the best answer is to watch perhaps.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ok as you know I don't watch horror movie but sometime I like to read the review to get to know bits of the story. This is kind of scary.

    ReplyDelete