Before I Wake

SPOILER: Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and her husband Mark (Thomas Jane) are grieving the loss of their son Sean (Antonio Romero), who drowned in the bathtub, and Jessie is in a group therapy. They decide to adopt the eight year-old orphan Cody (Jacob Tremblay), who was abandoned by two foster families. Cody is a lovely boy and becomes the pride and joy of Jessie and Mark. Cody avoids to sleep and Jessie and Mrk believe the boy has psychological problems due to the rejection of the previous foster parents. Soon they discover that when Cody sleeps, his beautiful dreams come true. But the problem is that the same happens with his dreadful nightmares. "Before I Wake" is an intriguing supernatural story of an orphan with a special ability. One great difference from other horror movies is that the boy Cody is sweet and not evil. There is explanation for what happens but the conclusion could have been more commercial and less gloomy. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "O Sono da Morte" ("The Death Sleep")

I'm only half-way into this movie, but I already feel compelled to write a couple of comments. Even though I haven't finished watching the movie yet, I'm giving it a poor rating or 4 out of 10 stars. Why you ask? Simple. The married couple's response to seeing their living room full of blue monarch butterflies; followed by seeing their son in the flesh, IS TOTALLY RIDICULOUS!!! Unless you were born and raised in the land of OZ, where crazy-ass occurrences are the norm, you simply wouldn't respond with the emotionally-muted question of, "GEE, WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM??" Then, if the appearance of the butterflies out of NOWHERE didn't catch your attention, don't you think seeing the butterflies DISAPPEAR INTO THIN AIR, MIGHT CATCH YOUR ATTENTION???? Not these two! They just head off to bed, like nothing ever happened. Even more RIDICULOUS YET, the following night, when they see their dead son in the flesh, THEY DON'T SAY A SINGLE WORD TO HIM!!! They hug him, and then cry when he disappears; after which, they just trot off to bed, again, like nothing ever happened. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!? The only way this response would make any sense, is if these two popped some acid; but, based on the story line, that is not the case. THIS MARRIED COUPLE SO UN-INQUISITIVE, THAT EVEN IF SANTA CLAUS SHOWED UP IN THEIR LIVING ROOM, I SUSPECT THEY WOULD JUST OFFER HIM SOME COOKIES, AND THEN GO TO BED!!! This is just horrible writing!!! No sane person is going to encounter these events, and then just skip off to bed, with absolutely no discussion about it at all. DUMB!!!

I only gave it a 9 because I don't believe in perfect scores... There's so much that I love about this movie! and I think the thing that helped is that I knew nothing about it going into it. In these days trailers will often spoil things and change your expectations going into it. If the trailer is cut properly it will really raise your expectations and you could be in for a disappointment.. in my situation I never saw a trailer and only knew the title. Suffice to say I was VERY engaged in the movie because I had no idea what to expect.. there were many amazing elements, I've always loved the implementation of dreams into horror movies because I myself have nightmares often.. it resonates with me.. this movie pulls that off so perfectly in my mind. I also love the amazing performance the kid who plays Cody gave. I encourage you to give this one a chance, and try to avoid ANY kind of spoilers you can avoid.. don't watch the trailer, just check it out.

I'll admit the trailer didn't grip me, I watched it and thought I wouldn't enjoy it, big mistake, this is such an imaginative horror, which defies all the usual horror cliches, the usual proceedings are turned on their head, the child, Cody, is a really nice kid, not the usual Damianesque monster you are normally guaranteed. The parents are not sadistic or twisted, they're just trying to do their best and get by. The film is a visual treat, when it's intended to look good it's beautiful, the butterflies look stunning, so bright, and on the flipside the moths and Canker Man look menacing and dark. The scares are good, plenty of things going on, but you need to keep watching and concentrating. I wouldn't say it has much in store for those that love gore and twisted horror, it would be tame for those, but for the casual horror viewer, this is a smashing movie. The ending was the only part I felt was a little bit of a let down, such a good film deserved a better conclusion. Well worth seeing, 8/10

I've enjoyed Mr. Flannegan's movies before this one. But right from the start Before I Wake got on my nerves. You've got the perfect couple living in an amazing house without any visible means of support. What do they do for work? The kid is ridiculously adorable mini-Bieber with a cutie-pie pout and way of speaking. Perfect perfect perfect. It's pure Hollywood fantasy. Then there's the usual holes in the think-through of the basic concept. Like, how did the people at the orphanage (or wherever the kid was staying between foster parents) not know about his weird powers? How come no one ever thought to take him to some doctors/scientists to figure out what was going on? (The Exorcist got this part right and was all the scarier for it) How come 'let them go' results in just one release? (though we see multiples coming loose from the roots). How come the wife seems oh so fine with the situation as it stands at the end of the movie? I get that this is a fantasy movie... but if EVERYTHING is unbelievable/implausible then the fantasy elements are lessened and just more of the same nonsense. Yes, the movie is well made, the acting is fine. My gripe, as usual, is with the writing... with the way the characters don't behave like real people. Except for a bit of spooky stuff this could have been kids movie about a magical boy living in a magical land full of magic. So my end opinion is, 'Ick!'

Okay here we go... I am so sick of all the people writing reviews where they pick apart the Genre classification, like that some how makes the content of the movie bad because of their "say-so". Get a damn life and quit being a anal retentive Armchair sycophant. Couldn't you just say they got the sub categories wrong and be done with it. No one really gives a crap. If you think it really matters, Then write to the Studio that produced the film and complain to them. (guaranteed your letter will wind up in the round file") Instead, write a fair review about the actual "Movie" and move on. NOW... I liked this movie, it was done well, great acting ( the kid stole the show in my opinion). Filming was great, suspense slow and grinding, Music was good and the special effects were actual good for this type of movie. It reminded me of the 1984 movie Dreamscape with Dennis Quaid and David Patrick Kelly where he helps the kid with the same kind of problem. Done well and It was great entertainment. Enjoy.

Question 1: Please tell me why a child that size drowned in the bathtub?? Sit up kid. Question 2: Why is no one investigating her missing husband? Meanwhile she's doing "research" like most typical horror films trying to get to the bottom of it! Question 3: Does she even care that her husbands gone?? Nope. Doesn't seem to bothered by it. Question 4: Why were they so angry with her for giving him a sleeping pill only to hold him down to give him a shot??? Question 5: Why was the front door to the orphanage unlocked??? I think that's it. But I'm still pretty confused by the whole thing. Could have been great, but didn't quite get there.

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