Movie review
April 7, 2016 · 97 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Before I Wake is a 2016 supernatural horror film in which a grieving couple adopts an eight-year-old foster child whose dreams and nightmares physically manifest in the real world. The narrative follows the parents’ struggle with loss, trauma, and the dangerous temptation to exploit the boy’s ability to briefly reunite with their deceased son. No identity-driven elements, activist dialogue, representation emphasis, or modern social-justice framing appear in the story, casting, or marketing.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Before I Wake.
Woke representation / casting
Casting is naturalistic for the story world and setting with zero audience-visible forced diversity, identity signaling, or mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
No political, activist, or ideological dialogue of any kind is present.
Identity-driven story themes
Story engine is grief, loss, and supernatural manifestation of trauma — universal emotional themes with no identity politics or representation arcs.
Western institutional / cultural critique
No modern activist critique of institutions, capitalism, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, family structures, or Western norms; the film explores personal emotional consequences without systemic framing.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant — original story with no source material or historical-figure alterations.
Production
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No backlash, social-media campaigns, or news reports accusing the title of pushing woke, activist, identity-political, or left-wing messaging.
Creator track record context
No relevant prior activist or identity-driven work by director, producers, or writers applies to this 2016 film.
