Awakening, The (2011) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Thriller

Tagline: All the children are gone... except one.

They say, the boy was scared to death. When the death of a child at a boarding school is blamed on a ghost, hoax exposer Florence Cathcart is certain that science and reason can explain it. But the truth she discovers is more terrifying than she could ever imagine, and soon the ghost hunter becomes the hunted. Starring Rebecca Hall (The Town), Dominic West (John Carter) and Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter), The Awakening is a terrifying mystery filled with haunting twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Storyline: In 1921, in London, the arrogant and skeptical Florence Cathcart is famous for exposing hoaxes and helping the police to arrest con artists. The stranger Robert Mallory tells her that the headmaster of a boarding school in Rookford had invited her to travel to Cumbria to investigate a ghost that is frightening the pupils to death. He also tells that many years ago there was a murder in the estate and recently pupil Walter Portman had died. The reluctant Florence finally accepts to go to Cumbria. On arrival, she is welcomed by governess Maud and the boy Thomas Hill. Soon Florence discovers what had happened to Walter and then the students, teachers and staff are released on vacation, and Florence remains alone with Robert, Maud and Tom in the school. Florence is ready to leave the boarding school when strange things happen, leaving Florence scared. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on January 23, 2013 -- If an eerie sense of déjà vu haunts your viewing of The Awakening, you're not alone. The BBC Films period chiller shares more than a few striking similarities with Red Lights, writer/director Rodrigo Cortés' stylish but superficial psychic thriller. A clever professional skeptic, bound and determined to ferret out supernatural fraud wherever it rears its head. A case that forces said skeptic to question everything she believes, or rather doesn't believe. A series of terrific performances set against a beautifully chilling and atmospheric backdrop, a measured and intense build toward a shocking (but protracted) revelation, and a convoluted twist executed rather carelessly. Still, The Awakening explores its supernatural happenings with a bit more confidence and poise than Red Lights, and even pulls off a number of genuinely unnerving scares. It's a conventional haunted house genre pic, sure. But it's also a pretty good genre pic and, for once, I didn't so much mind all the convention.

1921. Despite her noblest efforts, career skeptic, controversial author and supernatural investigator Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall, The Town) has more than her share of enemies: con artists who prey on those in mourning, families whose hopes have been dashed by her investigations, and men and women she's never met, whose faith is challenged by her findings. Even when boarding school professor Robert Malory (Dominic West, The Wire) comes calling with a story of what he believes to be a legitimate haunting, she scoffs and denies his request... only to relent out of compassion. Traveling to the school to debunk whatever fraud is being perpetrated on the young, frightened boys in Malory's care, she soon bears witness to events and experiences beyond rational explanation, all of which force the once unshakable investigator to seriously question her own sanity and beliefs.

The Awakening is actually a much stronger, scarier film before it begins answering questions and solving mysteries, even though its first two acts ascribe to The Horror How-To Handbook rather than the lesser read Forging Original Frights. First time feature film director Nick Murphy isn't exactly versed in the mechanics of horror. Two episodes of Primeval hardly amount to proper genre training. Co-writer Stephen Volk brings a bit more clout to the project, having penned flaccid cult flops Gothic and The Kiss in the late '80s and having helmed fourteen episodes of Afterlife in 2005, but that isn't much help either. Apart from the pitch-perfect period dialogue, Volk and Murphy's screenplay isn't all that special. What is special is Eduard Grau's bleak but striking cinematography, Victoria Boydell's meticulous editing (the doll house scenes!), Daniel Pemberton's sinister score and the performances, most of which deserve a more innovative script and more seasoned director. Hall holds steady even when the film wobbles, mining far deeper and darker emotional depths than her character does on the page. West is outstanding, sliding into the roles of suspect, guardian, lover and tormented soul without slipping or stumbling for a second. Young Isaac Hempstead-Wright holds his own against Hall and West too, as do most of Murphy's grade school cast. Harry Potter's Imelda Staunton and her supporting castmates line up right behind them, and few falter, much less fail.

I can't believe I'm about to say it, but had The Awakening remained a generic haunted house chiller right through to its is she or isn't she end, I might have bought into the ghostly whodunit more wholeheartedly. Instead Murphy and Volt take a stab at a semi-unique little twist that's frankly much too cumbersome for its own good. A burdensome series of flashbacks, a handful of repressed memories, some old fashioned sleight of filmmaking hand and an ambiguous ending only complicate matters, as do shifting motivations, which particularly plague one of the school's mainstays. The result is a flawed but ominous surprise; an ordinary horror outing bolstered by arguably extraordinary haunts and hauntees. The question then isn't whether The Awakening is a sturdy, effective frightfest but rather does it deliver sturdy, effective frights? For me, the answer is yes. I followed Hall and West into the darkness without complaint. The hair on the back of my neck stood up more times than I care to admit. And The Awakening, in spite of its problems, earned a spot on my shelves. Now if only Boydell had been able to work more magic with Murphy's clunky third act...

User Comment: Dharmendra Singh from Birmingham, England, 20 November 2011 • Between 1914 and 1919, one million people lost their lives to influenza. Society was more ignorant back then. Science and rational thinking were not then the forces they are today. People were open to anything, including the possibility of ghosts.

Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) stands out in the London of the twenties for being a free-thinker and a debunker of the supernatural. A boarding school teacher (Dominic West) implores her to visit his school following the death of a pupil, where unexplained sightings are being reported.

Florence isn't a total sceptic. She leaves some room for belief, which caused me to note she is agnostic towards ghosts. Essentially, there are two stories. One is concerning the death of the pupil. The other is more interesting and distinguishes it from a deluge of other horror films which have vanished from my mind as quickly as the ghostly apparitions in them. It focuses on Florence herself, and I shall say no more as I will not spoil it for you.

This is not a scary film; there are several portents but few frights. What there is plenty of, however, is suspense. Nick Murphy, in his feature-length debut, also manages to sustain a melancholy mood, crucial for his story.

It's no surprise that Rebecca is the daughter of Peter Hall, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She commands the screen in a way which would cause many of her peers to blush with envy. Her character is a difficult one to personify.

Dominic West, he with the simian countenance from the groundbreaking crime series 'The Wire', is very good as the guilt-ridden soldier-turned-teacher. Imelda Staunton is effective as the school matron. She has that look in her eye which is trying to tell us something.

I'm calling this a grown-up film because the spiritual element becomes auxiliary. Guilt and loneliness take over as leading themes. Murphy has the acuity to drop the ghost story – because otherwise it would be a simulacrum of other period chillers – and focuses on a story of locked emotion. The denouement is clever and original. The penultimate revelation would have been a superb ending on its own, so having a double-twist is all the more impressive.

Summary: A ghost story for grown-ups.

[CSW] -3.6- This reviewer put it better than I could: "This movie literally drips with supernatural atmosphere. An educated woman and paranormal investigator Florence Cathcart is invited to a boy's school to debunk a haunting. However, she finds more than she was looking for and soon discovers not only is the school haunted, she herself has played a unique otherworldly role in the history of the estate. This is a story of death and life and what it means to go on after tragedy, loneliness and heartache. The movie reminds me of The Others, The 6th Sense--especially the 1995 film Haunted. There is even a little of The Orphanage thrown in. As a footnote, the actress who plays Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter takes on the role of the murderous school matron. Slow to start, the movie builds into a rifle smoking climax. Recommended for those who like supernatural and dark films."
[V4.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.

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