Before I Wake

Most adults dream of having their own family. To have children is a natural process, to make sure that a new generation can help make a better future. I am no father myself, yet, but hopefully i will be at some point. We have many children in the family, so i am keeping myself busy. For some adults, for different reasons, not every woman can have a baby. You would wish that every woman, who wants a baby, should be able to have one. But life is not always fair, sometimes we are faced with a different reality. For those women who are told they can´t have children, life is not over. There are of course other ways to have a child. Like having an adoption, or an orphan. This will never be the same as having your own child, but it can still be a chance to raise a family. To choose to take care of a child, no matter if you adopted or helped on orphan, takes a lot of responsibility. But what if you notice that the child might not be what you expected ? When it comes to films, based on adopted children, or orphans, we have some titles to choose between. But i would like to suggest one film, that surprised me back in 2009. The film is called Orphan, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. This was actually a well made horror film, with a great performance by Isabelle Fuhrman, as the psychotic orphan Esther. I have actually seen this film more than 5 times since the release, so i can say that it is worth seeing. One detail i enjoyed especially about this film, is the fact that the plot is more complicated than you think, and that Esther have a completely different background. There are of course other films that have managed to tell different stories on orphans, or adoptions. One film, that we don´t really hear much about these days, is the very entertaining Lemony Snicket´s A Series Of Unfortunate Events, the first film based on the 3 books about the Baudelaires siblings. Jim Carrey is absolutely brilliant as Count Olaf, and the film is highly recommended. Too bad they never made 2 more films, based on the books, but at least you can enjoy this one. How many of you remember the 2004 film adaptation of The Punisher ? Thomas Jane, who took over after Dolph Lundgen´s classic performance, proved that he could deliver a solid action performance. He have made some other good films also, especially Stephen King´s The Mist. In recent years however, he did make some bad choices, like the film Drive Hard with John Cusack. I wrote a review on this awful film, so if you want you can find it in my movie review blog. I still think Thomas Jane can be good in films, if he choose the right script. He have released some titles lately, so i came across one film called Before I Wake. Not knowing much at all about the plot, or the film itself, i decided to give this film a chance. Is this horror film better than expected, or is this another main stream release soon to be forgotten ?

Jessie ( Kate Bosworth ) and Mark ( Thomas Jane ), lost their son, in a drowning accident. This awful tragedy have taken their lives in a completely unexpected turn, and they are forced to try and live their lives, as normal as possible. One day, they make a very big decision. They decide to take an orphan child, into their home. They find a boy named Cody ( Jacob Tremblay ), who is ready to find a new family. At first, both Jessie and Mark try to make Cody´s new home as good as possible, and help him with anything he needs. But Cody seems to be a different child, who have a secret within himself that no one knows.

Remember that i mentioned the 2009 film Orphan, earlier in this review? That film had a strong concept, that managed to make the film great, especially thanks to great performances. Before I Wake have a plot that reminds us of other horror films, but that does not have to mean it´s a bad idea. If you know how to use the right tools, it is ok to use classic elements. But there is always one more rule, never use these tools without any passion. This is one of the biggest problems with some horror films today, the passion is not there for the content of the film. And this is one of the biggest issues i have with Before I Wake. What could have been an interesting, is left being pretty ordinary. You don´t feel very interested in the main characters, and the plot is not strong enough to go through the whole film. The story of a couple, who lost their son, and want to try and make a family again, is simply not very interesting. The lead actors Thomas Jane and Kate Bosworth, are both professional actors, when they choose the right characters. Here in Before I Wake, i can´t really say that they try hard enough. I will say that Thomas Jane is at least more solid, when he gets the chance to shine in a few scenes. The child actor Jacob Tremblay does a performance, that feels more interesting than the main characters. Is everything bad ? Actually no. There are some scenes where we get to find some nice details. Like the butterfly scene where this strange creature crawls out, and remind us of The Mothman, combined with other elements. There are also some scenes where we get to understand more, about the foster child Cody. Director Mike Flanagan have directed several horror films over the years, some of you might have seen Absentia or the box office hit Oculus. He does know how to make horror films, but i can´t say that Before I Wake is unique, or bring anything interesting to the audience. I enjoy some of the ideas that are brought in here, but the final production of the film is not strong enough. If director Mike Flanagan would have used some James Wan influences, into the creature, we might have had a completely different film in our hands. Before I Wake is not a bad horror film, but with such a potential plot, and good actors on board, something must have happened along the way. It is like they just did not care enough, and just wanted to make another horror jump scare film. I already heard news about The Conjuring 3, and what the film could be about. At least we have something good to look forward to.

Rating: DD