BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP

UK, 2014, 92 minutes, Colour.
Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Anne -Marie Duff.
Directed by Rowan Joffe.

A more accurate title for this film would be When I Wake. In fact, when Christine (Nicole Kidman) wakes every morning she cannot remember anything from the past, especially anything from the day before when she had gone through the whole routine of waking, being puzzled, being told her she was. She is suffering from a strong form of amnesia.

In some ways this is a very old-fashioned type of thriller, set in England, with a strong cast, memories of psychological thrillers like those of Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on a novel by S.J.Watson.

Nicole Kidman is again paired with Colin Firth, after their successful performances in The Railway Man. When Christine awakes, her husband, Ben (Colin Firth) is by her side and explains what has happened to her, using photos and names and dates on a panel in the room, reassuring her about her life. But, as the day goes on, she receives a phone call from a Dr Nash (Mark Strong) who tells her he has been treating her for several weeks. He advises her to go to her cupboard and retrieve a camera, on which, each day, she has added comments about her experiences in the possibilities of her memories. In the novel, she keeps a diary. The novelist has said he is very pleased with this idea, much more visual, of her keeping a camera diary.

In her meetings with Dr Nash, she gradually finds out a little bit more about her life before amnesia. Gradually, some flashes of memory return, especially about the bashing she received which has caused the amnesia. Ben explains to her that they were married in 1999, that they had a son, Adam, who had died at the age of eight or nine.

The other main character in the film is Christine’s friend, Claire (Anne- Marie Duff) and they make contact after many years. Through speaking with Claire, she discovers some aspects of the past which had been obliterated from her memory. But, she seems to be content that she now has a grasp on all the facts and can deal with them, especially relying on Ben.

Since this is a thriller, it is obvious that not everybody will be actually what they seem to be. So, it is a drama about identity, discovery of identity, surprised by facts, and becoming embroiled in more danger and violence.

The writer-director of the film, Rowan Joffe, made a version of Grahame Greene’s Brighton Rock in 2010.

This is a film which will appeal to older audiences, where they will feel familiar enough with the style of film and enjoy it. One of the problems is whether there are holes in the plot, especially where the loss of memory is concerned over several years, but given the strong performances, the interest of the characters, the difficulties may not come to the surface until well after the film is over.

1. Thriller? Psychological study? Detective work?

2. British drama, the British home, the hotel, near the airport, the cark, the school, hospital? Credible? Musical score?

3. The plot as realistic, far-fetched? Credible?

4. The premise of amnesia, waking up each day having forgotten everything from the past? The repetition? The waking sequence, Christine and her husband, the photos on the wall, names and dates, his reassuring her? Dr Nash ringing, talk, explaining the camera in the cupboard, Christine getting it, being filled in from the past sequences? The visual diary? Continually adding to it?

5. Christine, Nicole Kidman and her age, appearance, style, hair and clothes? Finding out she was married in 1999, her son, his illness, his death, the physical attack on her, the unknown assailant? Her character, her past, trying to find out – and audiences seeing the best about her and her life?

6. Ben, asleep beside her, waking up each day, his reassurance, going to work, his care for her, love, explaining the photos? His not knowing about the camera and Dr Nash? Claire, the contact, the meeting, the talk about Ben? The divorce, Claire giving her the letter from Ben?

7. Claire, her story, the revelation about Adam being alive, Ben’s scar? Her confessing to the sexual episode with Ben? Chris, realising that she herself had had an affair? The mystery of the bashing?

8. Chris, satisfied with the explanations, about Adam and his death, about her life? Talking to Ben, saying that she loved him? His suddenly punching her?

9. Ben, going to the hospital, encounter with Dr Nash, warning him off?

10. Dr Nash, each day contacting Christine, the camera, the meetings, the discussions, trying to get her to remember, the glimpses of flashes of the past? Especially the assailant? The issue of countertransference and the doctor warning her against it?

11. Special day, the anniversary, Ben taking her to the hotel, the airport? Her remembering? The fact that Ben was really Mike, the affair with him, his violence, the attack, the repetition, the fighting, Mike and his madness, the threats, Christine hitting him, the iron?

12. Her setting off the alarm in the hotel, in hospital, the doctor and his explanations? The real Ben, the fact of the divorce, his saving Adam, the reconciliation? Adam, quoting the lines from Winnie the Pooh, mother and son together? Her recovery?

13. Interesting characters, interesting themes, nobody really being as they appeared?