Susan Granger’s review of “Before I Go To Sleep” (Millennium Films/Clarius Entertainment)
The opening image of this psychological chiller is an extreme close-up of a bloodshot eye – it belongs to Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman), a 40 year-old suburban London housewife who awakens every morning, terrified because she has no idea who she is or that the man beside her in bed is her husband, Ben (Colin Firth).
As Ben patiently explains to her each day, for the past 14 years, Christine has suffered from anterograde amnesia. That means her mind cannot create new memories. Each morning, she forgets what occurred the day before. On the bathroom wall, Ben has posted photographs with reminder Post-It notes to guide her through a daily routine. But now she’s being treated by Dr. Nasch (Mark Strong), a neuro-psychologist who meets her in secret, trying to help her piece together certain pieces of her life’s puzzle that inscrutable Ben has been concealing from her, like the fate of their son Adam and what exactly caused the traumatic assault that triggered her condition.
Nicole Kidman exudes vulnerability and anxious desperation, immediately eliciting empathy for her plight, while Colin Firth remains stolidly detached, even strangely enigmatic, as her loving, yet manipulative husband. In an atmosphere heavy with deceit and danger, the mystery gradually unravels.
Adroitly adapted from S.J. Watson’s 2011 best-seller by writer/director Rowan Joffe son of director Roland Joffe), it pivots on how much our memories make up our identity. Although relatively rare, this brain-affliction has been used many times before. Christopher Nolan made it central to “Memento” (2000), but amnesia also propelled Alfred Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” (1945) with Gregory Peck as the doctor, “Mister Buddwing” (1966) blanking out James Garner’s mind, “The Bourne Identity” (2002) featuring Matt Damon as baffled Jason Bourne, even Adam Sandler’s “50 First Dates” (2004) with Drew Barrymore.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Before I Go To Sleep” is a stylish, suspenseful 7. Like “Gone Girl,” it belongs in a new sub-genre labelled “marriage thriller.”
