Before I Wake (2016) Movie Reviews

Before I Wake (2016) Movie Reviews

 This movie was hilarious. The monster looks extremely funny and some scares were just plain funny. The story was interesting even though the dialogues were not so great. The acting was good from all of the actors. Jacob Tremblay was great and cute. Kate Bosworth, I thought she was great. She carried the movie well as this paranoid mother. Thomas Jane was also great as my favorite character from the movie. The theater we watched in was completely empty so we yelled out lots of crap and the movie turned out to be an enjoyable time for us. THe story was interesting. The movie concluded with a great ending which I would not spoil. Before I Wake (2016) will give you an enjoyable time.

Before I Wake tells the story of Cody(Jacob Tremblay). Cody has been moving from place to place because, different foster parents have been adopting him from time to time. Now, he is in the care of, Jessie(Kate Bosworth) & Mark(Thomas Jane). Jessie & Mark soon realize, that Cody's dreams physically appear before them, as he sleeps. The deadly fact is, the same thing happens during his nightmares. 

Before I Wake is an impressive film. However, it is not that scary. The jump scares are minimal. The suspense is superbly maintained throughout the movie, by director Mike Flanagan. However, the ending of the film, is disappointing & frankly, slightly silly. The biggest flaw with this movie is that it is not properly categorized. It is supposed to be a horror movie but, it feels more like a fantasy thriller. The script by Mike Flanagan & Jeff Howard is original & unique. However, I liked Flanagan & Howard's previous collaboration, Oculus(2013) better. Jacob Tremblay's performance as Cody, is the highlight of the film. Tremblay continues to impress us with his supreme acting ability, after being lauded for his performance in Room(2015). Kate Bosworth is great as Jessie. Thomas Jane is effective as Mark. Annabeth Gish is good as Natalie. Dash Mihok is awesome as Whelan. Antonio Evan Romero, Kyla Deaver & Hunter Wenzel are amazing as Sean, Annie & Tate, respectively. Before I Wake is not a must watch. Still, it is worth a watch if you have some time to spare.


It is infinitely better to center horror films around flawed, adult human beings, rather than seeing another vapid pretty face slashed by a faceless mook. Filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro (The Devil's Backbone) and William Friedkin (The Exorcist) understood that notion, where human flaws and regrets coil up subconscious fears into horrifying supernatural manifestations. Greenhorn filmmaker Mike Flanagan, who scared audiences with his surprisingly clever Oculus years ago, returns to follow these veterans' footsteps with his flawed but nonetheless human sophomore effort.

Here, Flanagan whips up another spooky tale that effectively doubles as a drama about loss and coping, centering around troubled adult couple Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane) coping with the loss of their child Sean. They adopt gifted kid Cody (Jacob Tremblay) whose dreams - and nightmares - come physically alive. Jessie sees this as an opportunity to relive her memories of her dead child, while Mark becomes rightfully concerned. Bosworth and Jane play their roles straight without the slightest hint of genre awareness, instantly grounding the film in tragic plausibility throughout.

Despite some shortcomings - including a half-baked coda that feels like a blatant Nikon ad, Flanagan's clever and wisely understated direction - including a refreshing lack of jumpy moments and music in the favor of slow burn chills - overcomes them and brings out the best in atmosphere and performances – specifically that of young Jacob Tremblay, who subverts the evil kid trope by convincingly looking remorseful about his 'gifts', unfortunately to little avail.


Now as far as I'm concerned when a movie makes me a little disgruntled about the actions of one or more of the characters then it's safe to say the movie has done what it was created to do. Jacob Tremblay is amazing and his perfect little boy with a secret side to him was pulled off incredibly without a hitch "I'm Sorry". Now Gorgeous Kate Bosworth was the character who made us cringe to no fault of her own the acting and dialogue from the writers was concise yet riveting. a lot of horror movies talk too much or not enough,a lot of them are non educational or don't offer enough clues to what's happening in their creepy minds as a director, Not the case with Mike Flanagan & Jeff Howard directing answer writing the story is original perfectly Paced with explanation that are surprisingly believable and not following the same lane for ending the movie as 90% of doom & gloom horror movies do. Thomas Jane also should be mentioned for becoming a horror actor with a cult following always amazing his latest role that blew everyone away in "The Veil" although this role was less demanding it was good but to him it was a cinch I'm sure of that. All in All the movie got 8/10 from me definitely recommend it. It wasn't the scariest but it was definitely very creepy and it was enough of it through out the whole movie with a good ending. Definitely worth a watch.