Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Sorry, this movie sucks

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Christine (Nicole Kidman) suffers from amnesia and literally can not remember one day to the next. As her husband Ben (Colin Firth) explains, she was in a car accident and suffered brain damage. In attempt to further her progress neuropsychologist, Dr. Nasch Mark Strong) gives her a video camera to record her thoughts of the day. He calls her each morning to remind her who he is, why he is calling, where to find the camera, what to do with it and then discuss any memories she has retained. I like psychological thrillers and thought with Nicole Kidman playing the lead it would be a better than average film, I was wrong. It is not the best or the worst thriller I've seen, but it is a bit average. It is good enough to watch on Halloween if you don't plan to go out or watch as a group for a who-done-it game night. Not for young viewers adult themes.

Brilliantly gripping film with lots of twist and second guessing. The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that the director made a huge error forgetting to explain Claire's role... oops! But decides that it's well worth a watch!

If cinema was invented solely so that we could spend an hour or two watching beautiful actresses emote in closeup, then BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP is great cinema. Nicole Kidman plays Christine, a woman fully functioning in every way except that a head trauma from a mysterious assault has left her with only short-term memory: every night as she sleeps, she forgets everything about herself, and has to relearn her identity the next day. There are worse ways of spending one's brief time on earth than watching Ms. Kidman register confusion, surprise, fear, curiosity, determination and (reflecting the audience's feelings) more confusion. It is hard, however, to imagine how any filmmaker could convey this protagonist's situation, pitiful as it is, without a trace of humour. Writer/director Rowan Joffe has made the film as claustrophobic as BURIED (which Ryan Reynolds spends in an underground coffin) but without a trace of irony, or its own essential absurdity (which Christopher Nolan was able to infuse into the same situation in MEMENTO). Christine is well-kept in her disability; the characteristically dour Colin Firth plays Ben, who greets her in the morning, explains her situation, then goes off to work as a chemistry teacher, leaving Christine alone in an enormous modernist suburban manse somewhere near London; the characteristically helpful-but-menacing Mark Strong plays Dr. Nasch (his first name is a plot point too complex to explain here), who phones Christine as soon as Ben has left for work, coaches her in keeping a video diary, and takes her on outings (through a perpetually damp, rainy south England – the film has a pervasive late-November feeling) supposedly to help her regain her memory. Christine gradually starts to understand her plight, although the viewer simply becomes more and more confused. Christine spends most of her time alone in the house; outside it's always dim and rainy. There are breakdowns in dramatic logic: having uncovered a key fact about herself, Christine meets Ben at the door and while berating him, stands outside in a Niagara-volume downpour, ignoring Ben's requests that they move just a few meters to get inside. In another absurd scene, Christine is reunited with a beloved best friend, Clare. When Clare confesses a fleeting infidelity with Ben, Christine turns her back on her and leaves – although Clare offers her the only chance to have a social life beyond her present gloomy and mysterious life with the two gloomy and mysterious men who take turns mentoring/ manipulating her.Still, it is very much Kidman's show and she makes the best of it; as well she must, since she is at the centre of almost every scene. If you want to watch a virtuoso actor in a state of perpetual tension and distress, there is no one better than Kidman, though a superior film to do so would be THE OTHERS.

Keeps you curious the whole time. Real-life lessons: not all those who love you are good for you or to you. This a great example of that. When someone is violent (or even shows signs of violence), they might explain their behaviour to themselves as " I am doing this for love because its necessary' but that is NEVER never acceptable. When someone is violent, lies to you, blackmails you in the name of love, they are not loving you (lets not discuss how far away this is from Mark Manson's unconditional love). Another lesson, affairs risk everything. If Christine didn't have an affair, Mike would not have become obsessed and destroy her life forever. If you are having an affair be ready to face the reality that that men or woman will eventually blackmail you and destroy your marriage. Affairs risk everything, if you are not ready to risk stay away from one. Character analysis and development: Christine- had an affair without realising the risk that that will impose on her marriage and family. The character is not deep enough for the public to understand why she took that risk in the first place if Ben was so great. Mike- even violent people can fall in love, even those that do nor handle woman with respect fall in love, even those you are ready to do whatever it takes (lies, violence, whatever without regarding other feelings) to get what they want fall in love. Just hope that you are not one of those people they fall in love with. Because even tho they are in love, they won't spare you from the evil traits of their character. They will eventually be themselves with you. Oppressive love is not flattering. It is not even real love. Real love, the one that matters, is build on respect, support and care. Mike's character is also not deep enough to makes us understand why he behaves like he does. Acting: Both leads Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth are great, the only thing (which is maybe more a script error than an acting one) is how we see Colin Firth's character with sympathy before Christine knows he is the one who did this to her and we never suspect a thing. If a character is truly believable we should not like this character even when we have no clue he is the bad guy. Colin Firth should have gives us something be that face expressions or way of taking or whatever, to make us go like " there is something about this guy I don't like'. Plausibility: well my only comment is she can't remember for 10 years than suddenly when she sees her son in the end she does? I mean she did see her son before why was he not the breakthrough before. But I suspect that the intention was to be implied that returning to the scene where she lost her memory, helped her remember. And maybe recalling the same information for the past 2 weeks stuck in her brain this time. Storytelling: great way to tell the story, same as The Anomaly, we learn the story together with the lead. Very common for mysteries which I realised that I like this way of storytelling. One disappointment I had was that the reason why some tried to kill Christine was not as glamorous as I expected. In the beginning I was thinking maybe she knew something top secret about something super important and that's why someone wanted her dead. In the end it was just because of a weak men's cruelty .