Before I Go To Sleep - Shades of Memento

‘Before I Go To Sleep’ is a short and sweet little thriller with shades of Christopher Nolan’s classic ‘Memento.’ The two share the same principal of a central protagonist who is suffering from memory loss and can’t remember what has gone on before them.  The beauty of this (when it works) is that you, as the viewer, is as much in the dark as the main character as to what’s going on.

Here, Nicole Kidman wakes every morning, unable to remember the last eighteen years of her life.  She’s married to Colin Firth, but can’t remember him and relies on photos and video diaries to chart her past.  Then, enter one doctor, Mark Strong, who thinks he can help her recall her past.  Naturally, memories surface which call into question everything she thinks she knows.

Is it as good as Memento?  No.  But then, despite sharing the same premise, it’s different enough not to be totally judged against Memento.  All three actors in Before I Go To Sleep play their parts well, however, it’s not a long film and there isn’t that much to it.  I pretty much worked out what was going on well before Nicole managed to.  There is more intrigue in the first half, but, once you have worked everything out, it sort of descends into your traditional ‘slasher’ film where the girl is being pursued by the killer (and if you’ve looked at the cast list, you’ll already know that you basically have a one in two chance of getting it right!).

Seeing as the cast is basically ‘A-list’ it’s probably worth seeing if you’re into thrillers.  However, once you’ve watched it, you probably won’t want to see it again (at least for many years).  Basically... rent or borrow before you buy.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that