BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (2014)

Genre: Thriller
Director: Rowan Joffé
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Anne-Marie Duff, Dean-Charles Chapman, Jing Lusi, Rosie MacPherson
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence and Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:

Opening Day: 6 November 2014

Synopsis: Before I Go To Sleep is a thriller based on the worldwide best-selling novel about a woman who wakes up every day remembering nothing—the result of a traumatic accident in her past—until one day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her…

Movie Review:

Before I Go to Sleep dubs a story of a 40-year-old amnesiac who wakes up to nothing (or so she thinks) every morning only to discover a certain this much of her beginnings and who she is n her waking life. Stunningly played by Nicole Kidman, the storyline engages three other characters to set the plot into motion with their ever mysterious ways.

Before I Go to Sleep is also from the pedigree of novels churned into films, like Gone Girl, The Fault in Our Stars , Love, Rosie and countless more worth mentioning . Based on a critically acclaimed debut novel by S. J. Watson, the riveting plot and surprisingly quick-paced read has been christened to be a true-blue page-turner and bears impressive semblance of Shutter Island and Memento.

The film unfolds with Christine (Kidman) waking up beside her husband with a dubious expression of her face plummeting into a painfully slow and repetitive plot before building up to a gripping climax which is highly likely to make anyone wish for that pace to have been set throughout the 92 minutes.

Mundane would be adjective to best describe the film which are pretty much filled with cyclic sequences. Also packed with the necessary details to make it seem viable, there is a clean feel to the plot. With the black Peugeot whisking an uncertain Christine (Kidman) off to put the pieces together, one at a time, will remain to be a familiar scene in your mind by the time the credits roll in. The camera hidden in a shoebox plays a crucial role as well, for it is the only tool that aids in Christine discovering her actual self.

Though the cast were sparse, they brought their characters to life. Colin Firth, whom you would have distantly recalled from Pride and Prejudice and Mamma Mia! rightfully belongs to the Brit-Pack (the league of men from Britian with substance both on and off screen). The Nanny McPhee fame (Firth) ridiculously fancies himself to be the poster husband of Christine (Kidman) who is bent on learning her past. 

Firth’s role as Ben Lucas, Christine’s (Kidman)husband who is a man of few words even to the point of masking truths about Christine’s past is beyond flawless. Mark Strong, an English actor of Italian descent whom you might have recognised from Sherlock Holmes, Green Lantern and Body of Lies and who is ever-present in Christine’s life as her well-wisher and neurologist as Dr. Nasch (Strong) was so sharp as a tack that his downplayed sexiness overshadowed Christine’s (Kidman) schlub kind of aura.

The cast list is pretty solid with thespians hailing from their own breed of awesomeness in all sense. But the fact that you only get to narrow it all down between two contenders, Dr Nasch (Strong) and Ben (Firth) might rob the thrill out of the entire game.

Albeit the bloody blows, the demented flashbacks and the eerie unearthing, Before I Go to Sleep remains to be an ordinary rough cut. It is indeed a graphic novel when you go over the days of Christine’s life in a certain fashion.  

Movie Rating:

(A robust ensemble with a plot twist not fatal enough. Kidman’s unusual charisma of a woman torn between yesterday and today, keeps the show going - 'Before I Go to Sleep' would have been a sleeper hit if only it was still the 90s)

Review by Asha Gizelle M