Before I Go To Sleep is a psychological mystery thriller directed and written by Rowan Joffé starring Nicole Kidman as Christine, Mark Strong as Dr. Nasch, Colin Firth as Ben and Anne Marie Duff as Claire. This is a very interesting and a unique story about a forty year old woman who has amnesia due to a tragic car accident she had. She wakes up everyday with no memory of her life after her early twenties. Her memory can only last a day. She wakes up and forgets everything all over again. She does not even remember the house she lives in. She wakes up with a stranger who claims to be her husband Ben every single day and has to live with this frustration.

A neuropsychologist named Dr. Nasch treats Christine. He gives her a camera to record herself everyday so that she remembers where she is in and what had happened to her. He also reveals that she did not have an accident. She was attacked and found near an airport hotel. That makes Christine feel suspicious about Ben because he never told her about the attack. The film makes us question everyone. We as an audience do not know who to trust. Dr. Nasch? or the husband Ben? It urges us to question why Dr. Nasch keeps insisting he does not want Christine to talk about the treatment sessions when she is with Ben. Why does he want to keep this as a secret? This is when we feel mysterious thriller element of the film.

The treatment starts showing signs of recovery. Christine starts remembering some memories. The first memory she remembers is Claire. A close friend of hers. She asks about her to her husband but he seems like he does not like the fact the she remembers some memories. He says Claire left after the accident. The film makes us more and and more curious with every scene. It keeps going on and on. We try to find out who the bad guy is and we keep changing our minds.

After a few days, Claire calls Ben and Ben insists he left Christine at a care home because her situation was not good for their son and he never picked her up. Claire tells that to Christine and that is when things start to go messy. It comes to Christine’s realisation that all the pictures she had with ben are photoshopped! They are all fake. The Ben she knows is in fact Mike. A guy she had an affair with before the tragic incident she had. Mike kidnapped Christine from the care home facility and lied about everything.

We have a happy ending. Mike gets arrested and Christine reunites with the real Ben and her son Adam. However we are still left with some questions. How did not Ben realise Christine was missing from the care house? and How was it so easy for Mike to conceal his identity and kidnap someone from a facility? Kidman and Firth work very well in their scenes in pair which require a lot of trust between the actors. They do a brilliant job with the material given to them but the storyline seems to be forgettable and lacking a lot.

personal ranking: 7/10