A thriller that was panned by critics when it was released more than ten years ago was recently added to Netflix UK – and I decided to watch it despite its poor reviews. Sometimes, a film that received bad reviews might still be enjoyable. After all, art is subjective and just because some people didn’t enjoy something, it doesn’t mean that you won’t. I recently watched Before I Go To Sleep, a British film that was released in 2014 and was slammed by critics.
However, I knew nothing of the reviews before I watched it and I’m glad that I didn’t because they may have put me off it. But I was gripped from the beginning of the film until the end with its unique concept and plot and plenty of twists and turns, some I saw coming and some I didn’t. Before I Go To Sleep stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth and was added to Netflix in February and has largely flown under the radar. Released in 2014, the flick received poor scores across the board and sits at just 36% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Before I Go To Sleep follows Christine (Kidman) who wakes up every morning next to her husband (Firth) with no memeory of her life. Every day, her husband Ben has to tell her about their life together and why she keeps forgetting it.
However, when a doctor enters the picture and sets out to help Christine, truths start to unfold and the reality of what was actually her life and what has been made up become clear.
Both Kidman and Firth give good performances and Kidman especially pulls you in with her distraught and confused portrayal. As the film progresses, there are plenty of developments and my theories kept changing throughout.
As I mentioned before, some of the twists are kind of expected. You aren’t taken by surprise every single time but when you are, it is enough to keep you invested. To me, that made a solid movie viewing experience.
I’m not alone in giving this film its fair praise. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer said: “I loved this movie. It wasn’t perfect but it kept me glued to the TV screen. The ending was a shock but it left me feeling very satisfied.
“Nicole Kidman is a great actress and was very expressive as well as Colin Firth. It was a simple plot, I don’t like too many confusing issues, and I really enjoyed this 2014 film.”
Another said: “I thought this movie was exceptional. Very well-written and acted – not sure it deserves the negative reviews.”
However, not everyone was left satisfied. One reviewer wrote: “Sounds like a Memento rip-off, and it kind of is. There is enough ambiguity to keep you intrigued for a while, but it doesn’t hold up or remain consistent enough, and is just silly by the very end.”
A second commented: “It really pretends to be smarter than it is.”
A third said: “A tense thriller, but the first half was stronger than the second. It could have had a better ending.”
Meanwhile, US entertainment publication Variety went as far as to call it a “poor man’s Gone Girl”.
I can see where some of the negative reviews come from but for me, the events of the film and the turns the story took kept me invested and by the end, I was eager to see what would happen to the characters. For me, that is a marker of a good movie.