BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP is a psychological thriller based on the book by S.J Watson. It focuses on Christine (Nicole Kidman), a 40 year old amnesiac who wakes up every morning believing she is still in her 20s. Every night when she falls asleep her memory wipes, causing her to forget everything that happened that day. She is cared for and reassured by her husband Ben (Colin Firth) who has to watch his wife wake up every morning not knowing who he is. The other prominent figure in Christine’s life is Dr Nash (Mark Strong), a psychotherapist who calls her every morning to remind her to check her video diary that she uses to keep track of her daily life. With the opportunity to coherently link her memories from the previous day, Christine stumbles upon the awful truth surrounding her condition.

Due to Christine’s inability to form new memories (and therefore form a coherent character arc over the days) director Rowan Joffe has a strong reliance on lots of exposition from co-stars Firth and Strong. Yet BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP never feels uninteresting in its approach. While the repetitive nature of its structure initially seems like it could make for monotonous viewing, Joffe elegantly sidesteps this issue. We mercifully avoid seeing Christine wake up confused every day, thanks to a few repeated segments of phone calls and dialogue, allowing the film’s sparse runtime to focus on moving events forwards with little restraint.

 …a frail, damaged character who makes for an enthralling puzzle for the audience to deconstruct…

Joffe is heavily reliant on his trio of main characters, all of whom are perfectly cast. Mark Strong is a calm, reassuring presence who seems to be hiding something under his professional stance and psychological buzzwords. Firth is given a more prominent role to work with, often acting as the emotional anchor point that the plot revolves around. His character steadily unravels throughout the film, becoming more nuanced as Christine’s intrigue about the couple’s past grows. While Firth has the showiest role of the three, it’s Kidman who has the most work cut out for her. With character progression reduced to the contents of her video diary, Kidman pieces together sparse facts about her past as best she can, resulting in a frail, damaged character who makes for an enthralling puzzle for the audience to deconstruct.

The more notable shocks arrive in the last 20 minutes of the film, where the film’s narrative twists and turns in magnificently stunning ways. The revelation in question is well concealed by Joffe who avoids giving the viewer any obvious clues, making the somewhat obligatory surprise moment all the more shocking. Yet this pivotal moment ultimately acts as the film’s downfall. The narrative loses its focus, the excellently crafted tension dissipates and the film crawls to a somewhat unsatisfying ending.

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP is a well-structured, skilfully acted thriller for the majority of its runtime, but after it places its cards on the table it loses its effectiveness. Up to that point however, it’s a gripping blend of violence, mystery and suspense, giving it a foreboding atmosphere that for the most part at least, will prove to be unforgettable.

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