Before I Wake 2: Why Mike Flanagan’s Netflix Movie Deserves a Sequel

Mike Flanagan’s underrated movie Before I Wake, which was saved from limbo by Netflix, deserves a sequel to resolve several dangling plot threads. Flanagan has become a popular figure at the streaming giant, with his Stephen King adaptation Gerald’s Game, and series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, all drawing critical raves and high viewership. He’ll soon bring new shows Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club to Netflix as well, because apparently he loves the witching hour.

Before making it to Netflix, Before I Wake spent years sitting on the shelf of original distributor Relativity Media, which lent it the air of a movie so bad the studio didn’t want to release it, as has been the case for some other notorious stinkers. That actually wasn’t the case for Before I Wake though, as it was held up due to Relativity being in financial turmoil, and ultimately going bankrupt. Understandably, that kind of thing can get in the way of a movie’s release plans.

Since it finally got released, many Flanagan fans have come to find out that while Before I Wake is far from his best work, it’s not too bad in its own right, and presents some very intriguing concepts. With Netflix now in Flanagan’s corner, there’s no reason those concepts shouldn’t return for a sequel.

Before I Wake 2: Why Mike Flanagan’s Movie Deserves a Sequel

Before I Wake focused on a troubled orphan boy named Cody, who possessed the alternately magical and terrifying power to bring both his dreams and nightmares to life while he slept. After taking him in, foster parents Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane) Hobson discover just how dangerous this gift can be. Before the end of the film, Mark, along with multiple other people, have been seemingly killed by the monster haunting Cody’s nightmares. Or were they? With Jessie’s help, it appears Cody can learn to control his power, and might be able to bring Mark back from wherever he was sent to by “The Canker Man.”

It would be an absolute shame to let Before I Wake‘s story end there, on such a tantalizing cliffhanger. Especially since Mark was such a likable character, probably the most likable in the whole movie outside of poor Cody. When Jessie was letting her grief control her, and began to use Cody as a vessel to see their dead son Sean through his dreams, Mark was the voice of reason. Mark getting swallowed up by Canker Man was perhaps the saddest scene in the whole film, and he deserves to be rescued somehow. There’s also the prospect of Cody’s power maturing, and perhaps strengthening. If Cody’s ability to manifest things at will grows, is there a limit to what he could conjure up? Before I Wake 2 needs to explore that question.

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