Relativity Media, a motion picture company, went defunct in late 2017 and was bought by other businesses. They released movies like Pineapple Express, Bridesmaids and The House at the End of the Street.
After the company went under, one of their films, Before I Wake, was left an orphan. Netflix purchased worldwide rights to the film last year. About a month ago, I started seeing it advertised as a Netflix original, almost two full years after its original release date. But, if so much trouble was endured just to salvage the life of this horror flick, I figured I might as well give it a go.
The film centers on “Cody Morgan,” the 8-year-old foster child of “Jessie and Mark Hobson.” The Hobsons take in Morgan as an obvious attempt to replace their late son “Sean,” who died at the same age.
However, the Hobsons are shocked to find that Morgan’s dreams literally come true. The second the child falls asleep, it could mean either a swarm of gorgeous butterflies appears in the living room from nowhere, or it could mean the god-awful “Canker Man,” a pale white monster from Morgan’s subconscious, emerges to scare, kill, and devour, a la Nightmare on Elm Street.
The first punch Before I Wake throws is Morgan’s appearance-the child is the image of childhood innocence. He’s precocious, kind and probably lower maintenance than you were at 8. This positive image, as is often the case with horror, is just waiting for a negative kick to invert its pleasant effect into an unsettling one. This comes easily with Morgan’s eerie stories and warnings about the Canker Man. It all combines nicely with dark, murky cinematography that practically forces the viewer to search the shadows for monsters, a bit reminiscent of The Woman in Black.
At the heart of this is a worthy and developed concept, but, when it comes to execution, especially near the climax, Before I Wake ultimately falls back into its Hollywood roots. The Hobsons’ supposed paternal love doesn’t translate well through an inappropriately understated performance. When the dreams come into reality, their beauty or grotesqueness, depending on the moment, is tragically squandered by some pretty trashy CGI, and the Canker Man, as dreadful and compelling as he was in conversation, is every bit as cheap in his actual appearance.
This is perhaps the most tragic thing about Before I Wake. It’s weakest when it’s throwing jump scares or trying to impress you with special effects, but its strongest moments are its least emphasized ones, when its visuals come together in uncanny spectacles and what you’re watching is actually scary.
Scenes where the content alone is enough to unsettle the viewer get brushed aside for the ones that overcompensate for their own lack of substance. This makes the movie feel like a halfway point between a thorough, worthy concept and the rigorous doctrines of Hollywood filmmaking.
No matter how good of a foster home Netflix may be, Before I Wake would better fit Relativity Media’s original intention—hitting the Hollywood scene, grossing millions worldwide and catching the attention of way more people than it deserves.
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