{ London Film Fest 2011: The Awakening. }

[delga]

The Awakening
Director: Nick Murphy
Writer: Stephen Volk, Nick Murphy
Cast: Rebecca Hart, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright
Trailer

"We might want ghosts to be true. It doesn't mean they are."

Nicky Murphy, the director of The Awakening introduced his film, and apologised in advance for not being available for Q&A after the credits. I suspect the reason he didn't stick around is because is film isn't very good.

In post-WWI Britain, Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is in the habit of debunking ghost stories. Having lost her love at war, it quickly becomes apparent that she is so focused on exposing charlatans because she wants on day to be proved wrong. Robert Mallory (Dominic West) is a History teacher at a Cumbrian boarding school which may house a ghost. He comes to Florence at the behest of the school Matron (Imelda Staunton) after a boy dies one day after a reported sighting. The school has a history of suspicious deaths, although the first one is shrouded in mystery.

Without giving too much away, I can say that the mystery of the school boy's death is solved, but not before Florence becomes convinced that a second one is floating around. As she renews her efforts in the chase, it becomes apparent that whatever is going on at the school is not as straightforward as she first suspected.

It's pretty standard fare as ghost stories go. Victorian houses have tall windows and very high ceilings; something about all that cold space makes them the perfect setting for stories much like The Awakening. There is a lot of suspenseful music, the camera abruptly cutting away from flashes of motion. Distorted faces, creepy photos, a replica doll house, this film has it all. Florence seems a capable sceptic, suffering an intense sadness beneath her icy exterior. Even Mallory has depth, his character wounded - inside and out - from the war, subtly stumbling over words that begin with 'b'. There was tremendous potential with both characters, and the war-related subplots, for this to be more than your average ghost story.

And the film does do well enough until the last act. It feels almost like Murphy is trying too hard to give us an explanation for the events that happen in the house, wanting to give weight to the spooks, but also wanting to give the ending a twist. It falls flat. The unravelling of the rubric is not particularly satisfying, or even particularly robust, which is a shame because everyone gives very good performances, but ultimately, even solid foundations failed to stop the story from collapsing. Unfortunate, since there was potential for it to have been much, much better.