User reviews

The Awakening is pretty much what you would expect it to be. It's well made with gorgeous cinematography and strong performances from its cast. And the story if unsurprising is solidly made and well told. The film is directed well and builds a nice amount of suspense throughout. At times its confusing because of the sheer amount of convoluted ideals being thrown around. The story concerns an educated young woman who debunks ghost theories. She is approached by the headmaster of a school to help out with a problem concerning the boys being frightened there. After some convincing she arrives at the location and begins her investigation. Many secrets are discovered and it builds to a somewhat expected finale. For those of you who've seen the brilliant films The Others, The Orphanage and The Devil's Backbone there's not much new here. Still it's competently made and there is a nice slow burn of suspense even culminating in some surprising scares and plot twists. Overall it's a old fashioned classic spook fest with a bit of wit and borrowed imagination from slightly better films. A bonus scene features sexy Dominic West in a solid performance shedding his clothes which is much appreciated but unnecessary like the other "bathtub" scene. And there seems to be niche with that running through the proceedings it's almost as if the people involved with making the film knew they had something that wasn't the most original concept so they threw in unnecessary things to kind of lead you astray it's a little manipulative on their part but keeps you engaged as a viewer and you don't feel too cheated at the films conclusion. Overall it's an elegant, solid but expected ghost story.

This film is set in a post-World War One society, devastated by loss and alienated from traditional Christian answers about the afterlife. The settings, context and costumes are done perfectly. The tensions between the situation and characters develop quickly, with the help of some genteel and understated movie tropes. But it is in the these tropes that it loses its way somewhat, and towards the last quarter IMO it loses its way royally. Take a pick n mix from haunted doll house, weird kid, who's a ghost, repressed memories and crazy ladies and you can have the awakening of your choice.....

It's 1921 after the horrors of WWI, England is full of charlatans trying to scam grieving people. Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is a professional skeptic driven to exposing hoaxes and getting the cons arrested. Robert Mallory (Dominic West) invites her to investigate a ghost at a boarding school. There was a murder long ago that could be the source, and recently a student had died. Florence is met by governess Maud Hill (Imelda Staunton) and the boy Thomas Hill. Teachers and staff soon goes on vacation leaving Florence alone with Robert, Maud and Tom in the school.

This setting has a good old fashion atmosphere. It's basically a big old isolated building with a handful of people and a ghost story. You can't really get any more classic than that. The story does have a convoluted twist that could be quite problematic. I was able to follow the twist, and I'm fine with it. Rebecca Hall is a nice capable actress. And she makes a good avenging heroine and a damsel in distress.

I can't believe I almost didn't see this movie based on the lower rating and negative reviews. What a shame that would have been! There are always plenty of long reviews, so I won't bore you with mine.

This movie was absolutely wonderful. It has some drama, suspenseful music and scenes from start to finish, and even a bit of romance (but not nearly enough to make this a romantic or "chick" movie).

Each of the chosen actors were perfect for their part and they portrayed assigned characters beautifully. They were very likable and believable.

I'm not going to compare this movie with any other, but if you're like me and love movies such as The Sixth Sense, Shutter Island, Inception, Dream House, etc... I promise you will love this movie as well. You also, like me, may decide to immediately watch it the 2nd time to see if there are any clues you missed preparing you for the last 15 minutes of movie.

Out of over 700 movies in my collection, only 32 have a 10 star rating. This movie comes VERY close to that category. Definitely a must see!

The movie does not sound original, in terms of plot and style, it is a very old-style ghost story, built according to the most traditional but still effective means in pictures like these, where the supernatural has to find its ways. Creaking doors, mysterious sounds, light and dark play, set in a solitary gloomy mansion in the English countryside, are part of the oldest tradition of scary movies, the plot twists are also not new, but the impression I got is that of a simple, well crafted ghost story, with an interesting psychological insight, that without needing exaggerated sci-fi effects gets to appeal and entertain the viewer till the end. A good English cast helps give insight to the the frailty and fears of its characters, and to make up for some flaws in the picture, above all a rather hasty and underdeveloped finale, as opposed to some slowness in the previous parts.

I love old-fashioned ghost stories, both in literature and in moving picture. It's a harder genre than people give credit to, especially because it's age. Since it has been done to death, almost every possibility and approach seems to have been covered. However, there are movies that have taken the this tired formula and made splendid films - The Orphanage is a good example of a ghost story done right. The Awakening started off right. The acting was good, the mood was efficiently set and the cinematography gorgeous to look at. I was many times at absolute awe at the beautiful images and camera shots that the movie boosted. However, the central thing in a movie is it's plot, and that's where things get shaky. The plot wasn't that great to begin with and as it progressed became less interesting, managing nonetheless to sustain my interest throughout until the end, which was by far the film's greatest weakness. The ending "twist" came too late and was done with too much haste, which hurt it's already shaky believability. I think the ending despite being far-fetched could still work if done more competently and with more preparation. It's still an enjoyable movie, but the beautiful and eerie imagery would be much better served by a better plot. All in all, a solid 5 for the film, 10 for the cinematography. This cinematographer deserves to be well known, assuming he isn't already.

I found "The Awakening" to be a breath of fresh air for the Horror/Suspense genre. With so many shaky cam, found footage, reality show type horror/suspense movies hitting the box offices and living rooms around the world with poor character development, over the top torture and gore, plots so thin they are the only transparent ghosts in the picture. "The Awakening" is bound to be an instant classic! It's done with just the right amount of restraint, it has a rather Hitchcockian tone to it.What you don't see is far more suspenseful and adds to it.Sometimes less really is more. There is a fine line to walk especially with a ghost story, to achieve that sense of spine tingling, skin crawling feeling and that element can only be teased from the psyche with mystery, not in your face guts or a head being lopped off - that is shock value and gross out, which is perfectly fine for a slasher pic or a grind house movie, but not a good ghost story.

"The Awakening" is set in 1921 England, our Protagonist Florence Cathcart a free thinking, strong willed ghost buster, author and hoax crusher opens this gem of a movie by diving right into the fray. Mediums, psychics and séances' were all the rage during that time period, which began with the religion of spiritualism. Spiritualism developed and reached its peak growth in the 1840's to the 1920's. With many patrons from the Aristocratic and famous class, like Abraham Lincoln joining his wife for a séance after the death of their young son. After WWI many bereaved souls were searching for a connection to loved ones lost either from deadly illness or the horrors of war and were further victimized by unscrupulous charlatans seeking only coin and selling false hope. Florence's main objective is to put a stop to this and shed light and truth on the subject of death, the afterlife and ghosts. But after being invited to a supposedly haunted old grand estate that was converted into a boy's boarding school, with a recent death of a student and a rumor of an old murder and sightings of a ghost, Florence finds much more than school boy pranks and hoaxes - she finds something good, something frightening and something truly enlightening.

The character development in "The Awakening" is done perfectly with solid performances from the entire cast. The cinematography is excellent as is the entire production tip to tail. From sets and wardrobe to the musical score. The research done for the story and time period is what really brings this ghost story to life. It's the small details and creepy little surprises that all add to the reality of the time this story is told and the ensuing mystery. I must also comment on the pacing - this movie wasted no time, it's no action packed, a scare a minute kind of movie, it's far more subtle, but it's never slow or boring and nothing is wasted.

As a true horror/suspense connoisseur (I have a degree in film production and I was a make-up artist/Stylist for print, film and T.V. for 12 years.) I'd like to comment on some of the cynical and negative reviews. One cannot simply lump all horror and suspense films together. There are many subsets of the genre (Slasher, Grind House, Mystery, Supernatural, Creature, Occult, Gothic..etc.)and each has it's own flavor so to speak. You cannot compare a movie like "A nightmare on Elm street" to "The Changeling". Though they are both considered to be horror, one is supernatural slasher and the other is classic ghost story. Even when comparing movies in the same subset like "The house on haunted hill" with "The Haunting" both of which have remakes, have huge differences, usually found in the details and presentation and should be considered unique in their own right. While it may be true that there is nothing new under the sun and we've all seen the same plots and themes over and over again - I have found there is always something new to add to the age old themes.

This movie is in my top 10 of great ghost stories - 8 out of 10 stars for "The Awakening".

Creepy and eerie film in which a gloomy ghost haunts a school and while an arrogant fake investigator called Florence (Rebecca Hall) discovers false psychics, as she goes to investigate it at a far and solitary location : Umbria, where has happened a strange murder. She arrives to investigate the weird and ghastly boy who's terrorizing the schoolboys and awakening the house's darkest inhabitant at the isolated mansion and then Florence learns a sinister secret . There Florence is welcomed by the suspect governess (Imelda Staunton) and a shy little child (Isaac Hempstead) . With the help of the headmaster (Dominic West) of the Boarding House they must fend off the damned spirit who takes the scared kiddies. As she becomes the next target for the dark ghost resulting in a twisted and surprising finale . All the children are gone...except one. He never forgets . He never left .

The pace of the movie is slow but I never found it dull , the plot deals with a paranormal investigator who finds out false cases of fake medium, cheater clairvoyants , and swindler fortune tellers . As the scary tale narrates the legend of a manor and reveals more untold secrets , evil and tricks of a menacing ghost. It belongs to "Haunted House" sub-genre with various notorious films from the Sixties as ¨The Haunting¨ 1963 by Robert Wise , going on to nowadays . Main and support cast are pretty good . As Rebecca Hall as a skeptical private investigator who exposes frauds and hoaxes , Dominic West as the principal who falls for her , Imelda Staunton as the stiff-upper-lip housekeeper , Isaac Hempstead Wright as a weird student , Shaun Dooley , Joseph Mawle , and John Shrapnel as a local priest.

The picture follows the style of the recently successful Brit films as : ¨The Woman in Black¨ 2012 by James Watkins and its sequel ¨Angel of Death¨ 2014 by Tom Harper . It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography by Eduard Grau. As well as frightening and moving musical score by composer Daniel Pemberton. The motion picture was compellingly directed by Nick Murphy . He's a good craftsman who often works for Britsh television and BBC , making several TV episodes and series, such as : Christmas Tale , The Fog , Nightflyers , Rogue , Surviving Disaster ,The Secret , Prey , Primeval , Dracula , Occupation , Heroes and villians, among others . And occassionally for cinema he has only made two nice films : Blood and this The Awakening 2011. Rating : 7/10 . Better than average horror movie . The flick with appeal to terror fans .

Wow! I just finished watching The Awakening, and I have to say I've not seen such a complete and entertaining Gothic tale since The Orphanage.

While The Awakening does not have quite the depth of angst of El Orfanato, it nonetheless maintains a constant tension and audience puzzlement up until the last few minutes, when more questions than answers are evident.

Rebecca Hall's Florence Cathcart, and the method used for her professional 'Ghost Busting' procedures reminded me of the scenes set in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes mythology. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it is definitely there.

7/10 - Highly recommended.

Despite its bland, unimaginative title, I found this a taut, well-wrought ghost film. At times, the plotting reminded me of earlier genre-classics like "The Shining", "The Others" and especially "The Innocents", the latter based on Henry James's definitive "The Turn Of The Screw", all being concerned with the precarious psychological condition of the main character and of course of unhappy spirits from the past returning to impact on the present.

The present here, though, is immediately post-war England, and the tragedy and tension of those times, with the themes of the loss of what Seigfreid Sassoon called doomed youth, the psychological (and physical) scars on those that survived the Great War while their friends perished (personified here in the character of Mallory) as well as the enmity between those that fought and those that didn't (the latter portrayed in the character of Judd, the school caretaker), loom large in the character studies presented here.

At its heart however is the complex character Florence, a vintage if very young, "ghost- buster" if you will, herself bearing guilt over her part in the loss of her own soldier sweetheart, eventually takes on, at Mallory's beseeching, a new case, involving the unexplained death of a young boy pupil at a remote boarding school, supposedly haunted by an earlier pupil from years before.

The story takes many twists and turns with some scares and jumps along the way, revealing its major twist effectively and by the end just about explains its complexities although I'm sure there are still some strands I'm not quite connecting in the summing up.

The period is evoked excellently, the cold, austere boarding school in particular and the acting too is very good by all especially Imelda Taunton as the the school matron whose importance to the story becomes clearer as it progresses and particularly Rebecca Hall as the central character of Florence, her haunted eyes and blank expression well conveying the fragility of her character beneath her initially super-confident Holmes-ian demeanour.

If I have a criticism, it is that the Florence character is probably too overloaded with her various neuroses plus a lot happens to her in the narrative, but as in the end, it turns out to be all about her anyway, maybe I should grant the director and writer a little more licence.

Anyway, more psychologically thrilling than downright scary, this was my type of ghost film, just right for a late night viewing.

The Awakening is directed by Nick Murphy and Murphy co-writes the screenplay with Stephen Volk. It stars Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley and Joseph Mawle. Music is by Daniel Pemberton and cinematography by Eduard Grau.

Britain, post World War 1, and Florence Cathcart (Hall) makes a living as an exposer of charlatan spiritualists, a debunker of ghost sightings. When she receives a request from school master Robert Mallory (West) to investigate the supernatural events at a remote boarding school for boys, she is suitably intrigued to take on the assignment...

It comes as no surprise to find that numerous reviews for The Awakening make reference to ghost story films that were made previously. The Woman in Black released a year later would suffer the same fate, charges of it not bringing nothing new to the table etc. A ghost story set in a big mansion or remote educational/correctional establishment is what it is, and will continue to be so, all fans of such spooky fare ask is that it does it well and maybe add some adult themes into the bargain. The Awakening does these in spades.

The concept of a disbeliever in ghosts having their belief system tested to the full is not new, but it's a great concept and one with longevity assured. Here, boosted by a terrific performance from Hall, the screenplay consistently keeps you guessing. The possibilities of real or faked are constant as the director pumps up the creep factor, whilst he simultaneously crafts a number of genuine shock sequences - including one of the best doll house scenes put to film! This really has all the requisite jolts and atmospheric creeps for a period spooker.

It's not until the final quarter when the screenplay begins to unravel its mystery, a finale that has proved both ambiguous and divisive. The ambiguity factor is a little baffling since everything is made clear in a nicely staged scene, and this is something which the director has gone on record to state as well. As for the divisive side of things? That's a blight for this sub-genre of horror. It's convoluted! Contrived! It has been done before they cry! These are true to be sure, and without doubt there's a leap of faith required to not get annoyed, but it garners a reaction and has done its ghost story essence very well indeed.

Beautifully photographed, scored and performed by the leads to boot, this is for sure one for fans of period spookers with brains. 7.5/10

... to our screens? Well she hasn't been away too long. Actually right at this moment she can be seen in Iron Man 3. But she hasn't done that many horror movies now has she? Dorian Gray of course, but she seems to be cast in comedies mostly. But her range is phenomenal. Look at her performances and she never seizes to amaze. In Lay the Favorite with Bruce Willis she seems like a complete different person. Especially to the one that can be seen in this movie.

The story might not be everyones taste, but you can decide that for yourself. I thought it was nicely handled and I was about to give the movie a 7/10, but the ending did not completely satisfy me. I think I was hoping it'd go the other way. Nevertheless this is a decent horror movie with quite a few scares thrown into the mix

The Awakening is the best old-fashioned ghost story made in modern time since The Others. The film to me was so emotionally powerful, with an engrossing tale of loss, loneliness, grief and fear. Don't go in with expectations of being scared out of your mind even though there is some well executed scares in this film. It's not the type of horror film that really focuses on that element because it doesn't need to rely on it so heavily like most horror movies do these days. The film's strengths are its atmosphere, effective suspense, impeccable performances, a story worth telling and a twist that through me for a loop. The most under appreciated horror film of 2012.

Rebecca Hall plays Florence Cathcart, a Hoax exposer who is called to a boarding house to investigate strange paranormal activity. Rebecca is one of the most under used actresses of today! She was so mesmerizing in this role and it's a shame that this didn't get a wide theatrical release so people can see what a great actress she is; this was Oscar worthy to me. The rest of the cast was great too, that include Dominic West who plays Robert Mallory and Imelda Staunton who gives a heartbreaking performance as the caretaker Maud Hill. These characters were so moving and heartfelt and give the story an emotional punch.

Director and writer, Nick Murphy shows true talent in his first full length feature film, and has strength as a writer. His ability to capture emotion along with shocks and spooks is breathtaking to me; his film grabs and doesn't let go. He is a director to look out for. Stephen Volk who is no stranger to the horror genre, he also wrote screenplays for Gothic, The Kiss, The Guardian, Superstition and Octane. He shows true growth here as a solid writer for this genre. They should collaborate again! Overall, The Awakening treads a lot on familiar grounds, but there is true talent in front and behind the camera that you can really appreciate the presentation. It could of used a couple more scares but the ones thrown at us were effectively spooky. The acting, characters, suspense and surprising twist though, truly drive this film. Recommended! 7.9 out of 10

Skeptic Florence Cathcart(Rebecca Hall)believes it's a time for debunking ghosts.She is an author of famous book "Seeing Through Ghosts".She doesn't believe in God or any spirituality.So our ghost buster is sent to investigate their provincial boys boarding school where one of the students has died after reports of seeing the twisted spectre of young boy.The strange spectral phenomena overwhelms her as she starts digging in the past..."The Awakening" is a pretty creepy if not conventional ghost story influenced by "The Others" and "The Orphanage".The action moves slowly and there are some genuinely effective jump scares.The cinematography of Edward Grau is lush and the sound effects are great.Unfortunately the film becomes too sentimental in its second half.7 spectres out of 10.

Ghost debunking author, spiritual hoax nemesis and early benefactor of the suffragette movement, Florence, is invited to a boys boarding school where the children are terrorised by a phantom child and the teachers by the aftermath of WW1. She is to debunk the ghost story and return the school to business as usual.

A rational explanation quickly reveals itself, through the simple application of Holmesian deduction, a chemistry, set and some bells on strings. However, haunted by her personal sense of guilt and loss, Florence finds the rational solution unsatisfactory and searches instead for an antidote to her own suffering.

Haunting cinematography, a strong cast and a story line which supports both suspense and character depth, enable this film to stand alongside "the orphanage" and "the Others" rather than being shadowed by them.

Winner of the Jury Prize at the Gerardmer Film Festival in France.

This little movie came a bit as a surprise. I don't think anyone expected anything good from it but as it turned out, this is simply being one fine and very atmospheric genre movie.

This is not necessarily a typical horror/ghost movie but more one that relies on its mystery, rather than on its scares. And it handles its mystery quite effective and compellingly. It tells its story well and keeps things interesting at all times, making this basically a good watch from start till finish. Granted that you can see the big 'twist' coming from miles away already (well, at least if you are somewhat familiar with these type of movies already) but for some reason this didn't bothered me all that much and didn't prevented me from really liking this movie.

The mystery of the movie also heavily relies on its atmosphere, which is simply a great and very suiting one. It has some nice cinematography and also the right required settings.

Another aspect I also really liked about the movie was its main character, played by Rebecca Hall. It was a strong female lead, which isn't all that common for a movie of this sort, especially not one that is set in the very early 20th century. It worked out well and helped to keep things fresh and original, while in essence this is of course still being a very formulaic genre flick.

Yes, if you have seen plenty of movies involving a ghost story already, this movie really isn't anything that new or surprising to watch but it at least, unlike some other genre examples, never really has a dull moment in it and keeps things going and interesting at all times, even when there is not an awful lot happening. I think that this is actually the foremost reason why I ended up liking this movie so much, despite all of its still present and obvious (story) flaws and weaknesses.

Simply a good genre movie, that is well worth checking out.

7/10

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