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| (2016) 1h 37m |
Some boogie men turn out to be deranged murderers and madmen, others are legit non-human entities, but the boogie man in Before I Wake is a different kind altogether. The Canker Man occupies our real world in a physical way, and also haunts the realm we visit when we dream. The story begins with a young couple, Jessie and Mark Hobson (Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane), who are struggling to readjust after the death of their only child, Sean. It is suggested that it was Jessie who found him unresponsive in the bath tub.
The Hobsons channel unbearable sorrow into something positive—they've been approved to become foster parents for a troubled little boy. Polite, pale, sweet-faced Cody loves his new room with butterfly motif. As it happens, Cody collects butterflies. His first night, Jessie discovers Cody has packed a secret supply of energy drinks and sugary soda. Troubled, she asks about his sugar stash while she tucks him into bed. "I don't like to sleep," Cody confides, telling Jessie it's because of The Canker Man. "He eats people," Cody says. "He ate my mom." Jessie reassures Cody with a story of her own to show there is nothing to be afraid of here. Oh, would that it were so, little dude.
The main action starts later that night as Mark watches a movie while Jessie dozes. Soon he urgently wakes her. Exotic butterflies have materialized. First one, then a cloud of them fill the living room. Mark catches a blue one, but a black one bites Jessie's finger. The butterflies vanish all at once in a kaleidoscopic flash, leaving Jessie and Mark speechless. On Cody's second night, a sleepless Jessie hears a child running and thinks it must be Cody, but when she checks she finds him asleep in bed. Well then, was it Sean's ghost, angry that he's been forgotten? The grief support group leader tells her no it's not Sean, rather that she may have unresolved guilt triggering hyper-real waking dreams. Jessie doesn't buy it, but this is a great scene we'll come back to in a minute.
There's a lot to like in Before I Wake, maybe more than meets the eye. There's also what meets the ear. I love a great score, great sound, aural themes and sonic cues. Here's one example, and this is the scene on Cody's first night, the first time those dreamy butterflies appear while Mark watches a movie and exhausted Jessie sleeps. This sweet resting scene follows a heavy, fraught scene in which Jessie and Mark had a hard talk. She'd confided doubts and fears, and Mark supported and reassured her. The love between Jessie and Mark is rock-solid, even as they're separately grieving. Jessie copes with prescribed sedatives and grief counseling in the form of a support group, and Mark is nothing but her totally attentive, supportive man. He holds her as she dozes off in his arms. Well, the movie on TV is House on Haunted Hill, the one with Vincent Price. It's a scene in which Frederick Loren (Price) scornfully taunts his wife Annabelle, who insists she has seen a ghost; he does not believe her. For a minute, as the dazzling cloud of butterflies gather over Mark and Jessie, it's Vincent Price in guest role as right clever commentary. It's a perfect few seconds where the only sounds are the fluttering wings, Mark and Jessie held in disbelief, and Vincent Price saying there must be a logical explanation for what you think you're seeing.
The Support Group
Jessie's support group is exposition gold. When Jessie confides, "I saw something," the support group leader says no, of course what you saw was not the ghost of Sean. He reassures that while grieving for a lost loved one, it's perfectly normal to feel haunted or even have lucid waking dreams where we "see" the departed.
"The thing you need to understand about dreams...if we're suppressing negative emotions like guilt or fear, especially if we're sleep-deprived on top of that, our subconscious will figure out a way to process those emotions...even if we're awake."If this sounds to you like something Rod Serling would say narrating a Twilight Zone episode, that's because it serves the same purpose. This is a total narrator line, much as Vincent Price narrates the butterfly scene. I love a minor character as commentary, it packs a punch when done right. This person may be speaking to Jessie and her support group, but what he says here is a rather neat explanation of the whole movie, as it turns out.
Stuff of Nightmares
On night three, Jessie and Mark once again wake to find butterflies, but not only...they also see Sean. Jessie and Mark are held tearfully enthralled. When Cody comes downstairs, Sean poofs out of existence as swiftly as the butterflies. Sean apologizes, then he pops a can of soda and returns upstairs. So, the reason Cody doesn't like to sleep is because whatever Cody dreams shows up in the living room. At first, her grief has Jesse encouraging Cody to dream of Sean again. She soon realizes that's wrong and dangerous. But it's too late.
The stuff of Cody's nightmares is spun from guilt and fear. His subconscious did in fact figure out a way to process those emotions. Though Cody is a very special child, the Canker Man is ruthless, vicious and hungry. When he comes, people die. The most Cody can do in order to protect others from his nightmares is try to dream nice dreams. That's why Cody collects butterflies: he can't think of a creature more gentle and harmless. [EDIT: Yes, like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, you Gen Xer. I see you.] Cody's dreams continue to manifest in living nightmares until it comes down to who is stronger, Cody and his allies, both living and dead, or The Canker Man? Before I Wake ends with Cody's tale resolved, yet far from finished, as he rests safely in Jessie's loving arms. It's not exactly Rosemary mothering her devil Baby, though it is similarly a movie ending that's a new beginning for the woman and child. I'll tell you something. I think I like their chances. 😱
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