Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) exposes hoaxes and reveals the truth behind what appears to be supernatural phenomena only to find out something different is going on.   She is a well educated British woman in 1920s Great Britain which is rare, but her quest for the truth is taking its toll on her as she is a troubled and lonely woman.   She is hired to expose the truth behind a boy’s death at a boarding school.  She becomes close to the teacher who convinces her to come out to the school and she finds out that there is more happening at the school than what she expects.  THE AWAKENING is an atmospheric thriller with great characters and fantastic twists.  If you’re looking for quick scares, this isn’t the movie for you.  On another level, it is a good study on the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome on a person.   It manages to start as a ghost story only to become something more.  I would sign up for another adventure with Florence Cathcart if she was to return for another movie.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The seven deleted scenes with introductions by director Nick Murphy show a few scenes cut for pacing and story reasons.

 

A TIME FOR GHOSTS has director Nick Murphy, actress Rebecca Hall, and experts on the time period of the film discuss the effect that World War One had on the people of Great Britain and the quest to contact ghosts by some during the period as a way to deal with their grief.

 

ANATOMY OF A SCENE: FLORENCE AND THE LAKE- a behind-the-scenes look at a pivotal scene in the movie which takes THE AWAKENING in a different direction.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE AWAKENING is an effective atmospheric thriller.  I do wish the extras were in higher quality as the encoding is horrible.

 

This DVD review is (c)2-15-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com