The Awakening

In his début film, The Awakening, Nick Murphy tells the story of two characters who struggle with the burden of past hardships. Ostensibly a ghost story, The Awakening fails to properly capitalise on this promising theme, significantly undermining it with stereotypical characters and clichéd plot devices.

Set in post-World War One England, the film’s heroine is Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall); an “educated lady”, besieged by inner-demons, who works as a professional ghost-hunter. Her skepticism of the supernatural comes under threat though, upon encountering Robert Mallory (Dominic West), a public schoolmaster and self-harming ex-war veteran, who swears that a ghost exists in his school and is killing his students. Cathcart sets out to uncover the truth, believing it to be an elaborate hoax concocted by the students themselves.

Aside from a truly obscure and unnecessary exploration of Cathcart’s repressed sexuality the films events are predictable, and it grows tedious in the second half with a ludicrous plot-twist which leaves the audience cold. In addition, the film suffers as a result of some lackluster performances by its leads, who are unable to portray their characters with conviction and to establish any kind of on-screen chemistry with each other.

Nonetheless, the film must be recognised for its attempt to convey a poignant message: that “a life haunted isn’t a life at all”. In order to move forward we must accept our past and embrace the future. One can only hope Nick Murphy follows his own advice and moves on from this film.

REVIEWED AT FILMHOUSE