Cast: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton
Director: Nick Murphy
Country: UK
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Official Trailer: Here
Editor’s Note: Th Awakening is now on limited release in North America
When it comes to the spooky old mansion with creaky floorboards thing, this film has it in spades. Unlike the other recent haunted gothic period piece, The Woman In Black, which clashed between overtly cheap-o jump scares and classic spook tactics, The Awakening has an undeniable classiness, a kind of unshakable commitment to the ghost films of the past. Sometimes it works and sometimes the unwavering adherence to convention is a bore.
Each character in the film is haunted in their own right, but not necessarily by specters from beyond the grave; all of them suffer from a tortured psyche keen on digging up a tragedy from their past. The act of facing your own ghosts quickly becomes the main thematic thrust of the film. The result is a clever story where the truth of the situation is in constant flux, reality is beckoned into an elusive mystery by one simple question: what is a ghost?
We all carry with us the disturbing moments of our past, and despite our efforts to reconcile them, to some degree they will always be there, like a twisted snapshot revealing an ominous figure we’d rather just forget…
The main character Florence, played by Rebecca Hall with an intricate balance between weakness and strength, wants desperately to believe in ghosts, but her rational mind denies her that luxury. To her, life is limited to what you can measure. Upon investigating a supposedly haunted boarding school, the line between the possible and impossible begins to fade and a strange realization unfolds.
Still, the ominous question remains, are these visions of ghosts really ghosts, or are they just projections of some torturous past? As the film reaches its climax, it begins to divulge its true theory that perhaps ghosts can be both things at once. Its argument seems to be that, regardless of whether or not the dead are among us, the living can be ghosts too. When you are haunted long enough, you eventually begin to haunt and we all partake in that ghoulish endeavor from time to time. We all carry with us the disturbing moments of our past, and despite our efforts to reconcile them, to some degree they will always be there, like a twisted snapshot revealing an ominous figure we’d rather just forget… but as soon as you open your eyes, there it is. What we carry with us, we also dish out, and we are therefore trapped, like the ghosts in the graveyard, by the act of haunting the very lives we lead. It’s a beautifully crafted spooky sentiment, but before the film is praised too much, rest assured, it also has its downfalls.
…the plot gimmicks feel stale, like they’ve been recycled from some ’90s twist endings. The act of having a giant character reveal at the end of a haunted house movie is like having a priest trying to exercise a demon out of a little girl in a possession flick. It’s over and done with.
Although the film has great strengths in terms of theme and performances, the plot gimmicks feel stale, like they’ve been recycled from some ’90s twist endings. The act of having a giant character reveal at the end of a haunted house movie is like having a priest trying to exercise a demon out of a little girl in a possession flick. It’s over and done with. Jump scares are used sparingly and are effective for the most part, although even their choreography can be tiresome at times. The music is evocative and has a strong presence, which is a refreshing change from the low strings and timpani laden soundtracks of today.
It feels like a strange sister movie to The Others, which is arguably a stronger film in many ways. However, The Awakening is certainly not without its merits and for a decent creepy good time, you could do a lot worse.
[notification type=”star”]65/100 ~ OKAY. The Awakening is certainly not without its merits and for a decent creepy good time, you could do a lot worse.[/notification]
