Before I Go To Sleep review: A well-executed thriller... but not one you'll want to relive again and again

When a best-selling book gets turned into a movie adaptation, as it hits the big screen, viewers are usually split into two camps. Those who have read it and want to see a book they enjoyed created, within the medium of cinema, and those who haven't read it at all and are simply looking for a few hours of immersive entertainment of a film they like the look of. 

But as odd as it may sound, I fell into both categories when I went to see Before I Go To Sleep. You see, I was about half way through the book when I went, which put me in an unusual position of knowing some of the story but not all of it, and I am undoubtedly glad of that fact having now seen the film.

Nicole Kidman plays Christine, a woman with severe amnesia that cannot retain any information from one day to the next. Suffering from memory loss so bad that she cannot remember the incident that made her this way, let alone the name of her husband of 14 years that she sleeps next to every night. When a mysterious doctor presents himself to her one day, she soon learns that they are slowly making progress to make her remember who she is... and how she came to be this way, even if she does keep forgetting that they are. 

As she gradually learns more of her life before and after her mysterious accident, she realises that everyone around her may not be telling her the complete truth and that she can't trust anyone. She knows that she has to rely on herself to find out about what has happened to her, or most importantly what WILL happen. 

Even though I only read the first half of the novel by SJ Watson, it's evident why they had to change some aspects of the book to fit better in a visual presentation of the story, much as that might annoy hardcore fans of the book. Most of the novel is made up of past journal entries that Christine keeps to try and refresh small parts of her memory from day to day. Obviously, the moviemakers realised that leading a film narrative through written word would not be possible visually, so they have Christine creating a video diary rather than a written one. Not only is it easier to convey, but seeing Kidman's statically-interferred face frantically whispering through a camera lens really adds to the sinister nature of the whole film.  

Being a fan of all three actors leading this movie, I didn't doubt the acting ability but considering what they have to work with, they do incredibly well. This is not me being negative about the screenwriting or the presentation of their characters, but more so me being realistic. Due to the plot and the frequent necessity for lines to be repeated and similar scenes to occur, each of the brilliant actors don't really ever get the chance to give their roles depth or personality. It's not necessarily anyone's fault, that's just the way the story is.

Whilst this may seem as an out and out downside to the film at first, the fact that us as an audience only see the characters as two-dimensional is quite clever. The movie only allows us to know about the characters what Christine knows about them herself and through having this disconnection with the viewers and the mystery behind them, we too are unable to trust all of their motives as we don't know who they are or what they are going to do. 

When you really think about it, the subject matter of Before I Go To Sleep is incredibly creepy and this is certainly reflected in the movie's stylistic design. It's dull, muted colour palettes don't just reflect it's almost scientifically-based plot but also adds to the eeriness of the whole piece. It's whole look is cold and medicinal and many scenes often only have one person in the shot, emphasising Christine's loneliness and isolation. It's close, invasive shots not only represent herself living inside of her own mind but also the fact that she knows she can only trust herself. It also mirrors that this movie is very much about people and how they view each other rather through limited information and lack of emotion. 

Regardless of it's many positive attributes, it seems hard to imagine however, that Before I Go To Sleep will ever be anywhere near as good as the first time you watch it. It's truly unexpected twists, turns and building tensions throughout make the film what it is and once you know the storyline, I can't help but feel the whole film would be some what, boring. It's precisely this reason that I am happy I decided to see it before I finished the book. If I'd have known exactly where the film was going to go, the rest of it would not have wowed me enough to keep my interest throughout it's entirety. 

It's pretty darn good but it's nowhere near great but you almost forgive this when you think about how complicated a plot it actually is. Go see it once, albeit at the cinema or wait until a friends rents it from LoveFilm. But I, for one, am very satisfied with my one and potentially, only viewing. Christine may have learnt about her past several times, but chances are you probably won't want to.