Review by Toby Lattimore

The Awakening (15)

Set in the aftermath of World War One, this period Horror, BBC film, follows the story of Florence Cathcart played by the competent Rebecca Hall. She is a scientist and nonbeliever who, driven by personal tragedy, strives to expose supernatural hoaxes. Hardy Dominic West, of The Wire, appears and offers up a job she cannot resist and we are taken on a journey of awakening, revealing a wholly unexpected storyline that catapults around a large mansion of a boarding school. The popular Imelda Staunton, of Harry Potter fame, appears as a rigid housekeeper, her role becoming creepier as the plot unravels. But perhaps the most convincing presence is child actor Isaac Hempstead Wright who is fast building a career having landed a major character in the massive TV series Game of Thrones. The Awakening tries very hard to be a clever horror, resisting the slasher and leaning towards the thriller, and at times it is almost sophisticated but at points is stagnant and its interesting scientific edge is blown out of the water in a gripping final third. This is a promising directorial debut from TV Director Nick Murphy.

69/100

Toby Lattimore

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