Before I Wake
Movie, 2016, Directed, Set in A boy whose dreams come true
Before I Wake is #4 of 16 in release order and #4 of 16 in chronological order in the Mike Flanagan.
The story
An orphaned child's dreams—and nightmares—manifest physically as he sleeps.
Before I Wake recap
Before I Wake (2016) is Mike Flanagan's supernatural fantasy with Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane as Jessie and Mark Hobson, grieving parents who foster eight-year-old Cody (Jacob Tremblay) after their son Sean drowns. On his first night, butterflies fill the living room while Cody sleeps, and the couple learn that his dreams become real. Jessie uses home videos of Sean so that Cody dreams him back, but Cody's nightmares also come to life as "the Canker Man", who devours people. After Mark is taken, Jessie learns that Cody's earlier foster parents disappeared the same way.
Before I Wake ending explained
Jessie finds Cody at his old orphanage, where his nightmare has taken over. When the Canker Man attacks, she shows it a butterfly pillow from Cody's mother's belongings and hugs it, and it turns into Cody. Reading his mother's journal, she realises "canker" is how Cody misheard "cancer": the monster is his fading memory of his mother as she died. Cody accepts Jessie as his new mother.
Where to watch Before I Wake
Before I Wake is streaming on Netflix in the US.
Ratings
IMDb 6.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 67%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Hush, before Ouija: Origin of Evil.
- Chronological order: after Hush, before Ouija: Origin of Evil.
Cast
- Kate Bosworth as Jessie
- Jacob Tremblay as Cody
- Thomas Jane as Mark
- Annabeth Gish as Natalie
- Lance E. Nichols as Detective
- Scottie Thompson as Teacher
- Dash Mihok as Whelan
- Jay Karnes as Peter
- Kyla Deaver as Annie
- Courtney Bell as Andrea
- Justin Gordon as Doctor Tennant
- Hunter Wenzel as Tate
Directed by Mike Flanagan.