Before I Wake - Fantastical Horror
“The Canker Man...he comes in my sleep...he eats people...he ate my mom."
Jessie and Mark lost their young son in a tragic drowning accident and are looking to adopt a foster child. They find the perfect match - Cody, an eight year old boy who has been in and out of the foster system. But Cody is special, when he falls asleep bits of his dreams come to life. On the first night while Cody is sleeping butterflies appear in front of Jessie and Mark. The next night their dead son appears. But when Cody refuses to sleep, the couple find out that when Cody has bad dreams, something called the Canker Man comes to visit and it wreaks havoc.
One day at school Cody falls asleep and while the school bully approaches him, the Canker Man appears and attacks him. Jessie and Mark are put under suspicion because Cody was the last one to see this bully alive.
Can Jessie and Mark help Cody deal with the Canker Man? Or will their grief for their lost child hinder them?
Alright...what did I love about this movie?
So many emotional moments - when Jessie sees her son for the first time, when she stands outside the bathroom door while Cody takes a bath because she's terrified, when she realizes what the Canker man really is.
The Canker Man was really well done!
Tremendous performances for all those involved.
Cody's curly haired girl friend was ADORABLE.
What didn't I love?
How once Mark is gone it's like kay bye. Jessie doesn't even mourn him, she's like ah well I have my son now.
The cops removing Cody from the house seemed very dramatized...they jumped to a lot of conclusions realllll quick.
Overall
WHAT AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER!!!!!!!!!!!! Written and directed by the ever talented Mike Flanagan it stars an A list cast - Kate Bosworth, Jacob Tremblay and Thomas Jane.
Every moment of this movie is so incredibly tense and emotional. From the grief ever present between Jessie and Mark and the hope of Cody it leaves you with your heart smashed. This is a horror movie...sure...there's some terrifying elements. The Canker Man is actually pretty frightening and holds up even when the camera is directly on it. But what this movie really is is a story of grief, of loss, of heart break and how people deal with that loss. It's beautifully written and emotionally charged. Flanagan has such an amazing way of portraying realistic characters even within a fantasy horror element.
The attention to detail was wonderful - when Jessie and Mark first see the butterflies they don't have antennae but later when Cody's friend draws one on his butterfly, after that all the butterflies and moths that appear in his dreams have antennae. This felt like a twisted fairy tale complete with a moral lesson and a somewhat happy ending.
I loved it quite a bit but probably won't watch it again. I cried A LOT.
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