Before I Wake (2016 film)
| Before I Wake | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Mike Flanagan |
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| Cinematography | Michael Fimognari |
| Edited by | Mike Flanagan |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Relativity Media |
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Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.2 million |
Before I Wake (originally titled Somnia) is a 2016 American supernatural fantasy horror film directed and edited by Mike Flanagan and co-written by Flanagan and Jeff Howard. The film stars Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane, Jacob Tremblay, Annabeth Gish and Dash Mihok.
The movie begins with a frightened man with a gun and a sleeping child. Trembling and perspiring, the man nervously enters the child's room. He looks around, as if searching for something that he expects to reveal itself in the shadows, then a sudden commotion makes him pull the trigger. The gunfire awakens the child and the man breaks down in tears, saying that he can't do it.
Later, Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane) Hobson adopt a new foster child, eight-year-old Cody Morgan (Jacob Tremblay), after their young son Shawn dies suddenly. They soon find out that Cody's dreams become reality, but his nightmares are quite deadly.
On his first night, the couple are amazed as multicolored butterflies flutter across the living room, emitting a strong glow. Mark tries to capture one to show to Cody, as he likes butterflies. However, Cody wakes up and the butterflies disappear. The following day, he goes to school and finds a friend in a girl, and hostility from a mean kid. At home, Cody asks Mark who the kid in the picture was and Mark replies that he was their son, and that his name was Shawn. Cody asks about his whereabouts, to which Jessie replies that he is in heaven, and Cody tells her that that's where his mom is too. That night, the couple see their deceased child and try to hug him. Cody wakes up and Shawn disappears.
Upon discovering the amazing gift that Cody has, Jessie takes advantage of it. She lets Cody watch home videos of Shawn and then that night, the couple once again sees their beloved child. Days later, Mark notices the addiction that his wife has found and confronts her, telling her that she is just using Cody for his gift instead of loving him, which results in them arguing and Mark taking down the pictures of Shawn.
Cody falls asleep at school, and a nightmarish creature, who Cody calls "The Canker Man", appears before the mean kid, as the girl he's befriended watches in horror. Meanwhile Jessie goes to a doctor and expresses her complaints about her foster child not going to bed, to which the doctor prescribes medication. She mixes it with his drink, unbeknownst to her husband. That night Shawn once again appears before them, but turns into a nightmarish creature. Mark tries to wake Cody up but can't. Jessie confesses that she drugged the boy. The creature devours Mark as Jessie is thrown across the room and falls unconscious. She wakes up with Cody on the phone calling for help, as he found her lying on the floor. Suspecting it to be domestic violence, and knowing of the boy being drugged to sleep, social services takes Cody away.
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