The Awakening (2011) (original) (raw)

| | This BBC film starts off creepy right off the bat. Florence Cathcart (very hard name to catch, I kept thinking it was something different each time I heard it!) is an Edwardian mythbuster, specializing in ghosts. She's utterly consumed with a desire to bring truth to light, and so truth and fear are the paramount themes from beginning to end. This works surprisingly well, making the movie a pretty even toss-up between horror and mystery. Florence's mission is to find or debunk a murderous ghost preying on the students of a positively ancient boys' boarding school. At the school, you have your usual suspects, crazy hired hands, kooky housekeepers, wide-eyed boys, emotionally battered ex-military men, and the obligatory dusty dollhouse. The characters are actually grounded and interesting enough to make you care, especially as you realize Florence's mind is as much a maze as the school she's investigating. As with all British period drama, there are familiar faces. Harry Potter fans will babble about not telling lies the second they see Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge), and Game of Thrones fans will start crying when they see Isaac Hempstead Wright (Brandon Stark) walking.The cinematography is breathtaking, setting off a very distinctive, almost soporific atmosphere. But as usual, the lead makes or breaks the film, and Rebecca Hall is fantastic. Sometimes, she seems to slip back and forth between modern and Edwardian ideas and postures, which was a little jarring, but that was probably the intention. Nothing is balanced. Everything is in limbo, and we all slip deeper into limbo as the film progresses. The twist at the end is marvelous. Overall, nicely plotted, memorable, and worth more than one viewing. An evening well spent.Mood:curious | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |