Mike Flanagan’s Most Underrated Film Is Streaming on Netflix: “Don’t watch this movie alone at night”
Grief is a theme we’ve seen explored time and again in horror cinema, and for good reason. The genre provides a brilliant backdrop for depicting the emotional turmoil inflicted by loss. In films like Hereditary, the central evil doubles as a metaphor for the unspeakable angst the characters are enduring.
Hereditary may have helped popularize trauma-informed filmmaking in the horror space, but it’s far from the first flick to touch on such themes. Don’t Look Now, The Changeling, and Pet Sematary are just a few of the noteworthy efforts that explored similar territory before Hereditary director Ari Aster burst onto the scene.
Yet another noteworthy precursor to Hereditary that frequently seems to get lost in the shuffle is Mike Flanagan’s Before I Wake. The flick, which is streaming on Netflix, explores grief through the perspective of a pair of adoptive parents (Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane) still processing the trauma of their biological son’s untimely death. When they take in young Cody (Jacob Tremblay), his new guardians learn that the boy has the ability to manifest lifelike renderings from his dreams. Cody’s supernatural abilities provide the couple a chance to reconnect with their deceased son; however, it comes at a significant cost.
Check out the full synopsis via Google Movies:
Foster parents Mark and Jessie welcome 8-year-old Cody into their home. The boy tells Jessie that he’s terrified to fall asleep, but she assumes it’s just a natural fear for any young child. The couple becomes startled when their dead biological son suddenly appears in their living room. To their surprise, Cody’s dreams can magically become real. But so can his nightmares. Mark and Jessie must now uncover the truth behind Cody’s mysterious ability before his imagination harms them all.
Despite a talented director at the helm, a strong cast of characters, and a thoughtful approach to trauma-informed filmmaking, Before I Wake remains one of Mike Flanagan’s most underrated efforts. With that said, those who have seen the film seem to connect with it. That much is apparent from the picture’s respectable 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as from taking a look at some of the social media reactions.
If you’re keen to see what people have to say about this supernatural horror picture, scroll for a sampling below.
If you think you are game to check this grief-tinged horror picture out, head over to Netflix to see what you think.
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