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Before I Wake is a 2016 American horror/thriller film. The film is directed by Mike Flanagan, who co-wrote it with Jeff Howard and stars Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane and Jacob Tremblay.

Before I Wake was set to be released in September 2015. Relativity Media, the distributor of the film, went bankrupt before release. In 2016, the film was released at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Excluding the United States, Netflix released the film worldwide in 2017. Netflix released the film in the U.S. on January 5, 2018.

Plot[]

A young couple, Jessie and Mark Hobson take in a foster child, eight-year-old Cody Morgan, after their young son Sean dies from accidentally drowning in the bathtub. Social worker Natalie Friedman informs Mark and Jessie that when Cody was three years old, his mother died of cancer, and that two previous attempts to place him with foster parents were unsuccessful.

On his first night with the Hobsons, before Cody goes to sleep, he tells Jessie about a nightmarish creature called "the Canker Man." Jessie brushes the story off and tells Cody that nightmares cannot harm anyone. Later that night, Jessie and Mark are amazed as multicolored butterflies flutter across the living room. Mark tries to capture a blue butterfly to show Cody, as he has a liking for butterflies, but when Cody wakes up the butterflies disappear. The next day at school, he befriends a girl named Annie and antagonizes a mean student. At home, Cody asks Mark who the child in a living room picture is, and Mark replies that it is Sean. That night, the couple see their deceased child and try to hug him. When Cody wakes up, Sean disappears. Upon realizing Cody's gift of making his dreams become reality, Jessie takes advantage of it. After she shows Cody home videos of Sean, her dead son appears and acts out scenes from the videos. Days later, Mark accuses his wife of using Cody for his gift instead of loving him and takes down the pictures of Sean.

Cody falls asleep at school, and "the Canker Man" appears before the mean child and devours him, while Annie watches in horror and screams, waking him up. Meanwhile, Jessie goes to a doctor and complains that her foster child has trouble sleeping; the doctor prescribes medication. She mixes it with Cody's drink, unbeknownst to Mark. That night Sean again appears before them but resembles a monster, and Mark cannot wake Cody up. The Canker Man devours Mark and knocks Jessie unconscious. She wakes as Cody calls 911. Suspicious of Mark's sudden disappearance and suspecting domestic violence, social services takes Cody away to an orphanage.

When Natalie ignores Jessie's requests for help, Jessie steals her files on Cody. She tracks down one of his first foster parents, Whelan Young. He tells Jessie that when his wife fell sick, reminding Cody of his mother, she was killed in the same way Mark was. Cody's dreams brought her back as only a hollow replica. Whelan concluded that the only way to stop Cody's nightmares was to put an end to Cody himself, and asks Jessie to try, but she objects. She continues to investigate, and finds a box of Cody's mother's belongings containing a butterfly-shaped pillow and a journal.

Jessie arrives at the orphanage late at night to find it dark and haunted by Cody's nightmares, with the other children tied by vines to the walls. When she finally finds Cody, the Canker Man attacks her until she shows it the butterfly pillow. As she hugs the monster, it takes the form of Cody and disappears along with the vines. Jessie takes the still-unconscious Cody home.

The following day, Jessie reads Cody his mother's journal, which describes how much she had loved him and his gift. Jessie deduces that the Canker Man is actually Cody's fading memories of his mother, pale and disfigured due to the cancer. Jessie expresses admiration for Cody's gift and he acknowledges her as his new mother.

Cast[]

  • Kate Bosworth as Jessie Hobson
  • Thomas Jane as Mark Hobson
  • Jacob Tremblay as Cody Morgan
  • Annabeth Gish as Natalie Friedman
  • Antonio Evan Romero as Sean Hobson
  • Dash Mihok as Whelan Young
  • Scottie Thompson as Teacher
  • Justin Gordon as Dr. Tennant
  • Courtney Bell as Andrea Morgan

Production[]

The film was first announced on September 7, 2013 under the name Somnia. Oculus director Mike Flanagan was announced as the director and co-writer, alongside Jeff Howard.

It was announced that Sierra/Affinity would handle international rights for the film on November 7, 2013. They took this over from Focus Features International. On April 4, 2014, Relativity Media acquired the rights to distribute the film in the United States. The film's title was officially changed to Before I Wake in March of 2015.

Casting[]

In November of 2013, it was revealed that Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane would play the roles of the child's parents and Annabeth Gish would join the cast as the case worker Natalie.

Filming[]

Filming began on November 11 in Fairhope, Alabama. In December of 2013, the filming location changed to Barton Academy. Filming was completed on December 16.

Videos[]

External links[]

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