Wake – 2024

Wake is a movie about this young actress. She’s in her late 20s. I think she says 28 at one time in the movie. Anyway, she’s dying for this role in the remake of the movie Wake. She seeks out the lead actress from the original movie to try to get some hints or whatever from her. She is rejected on the spot by the housekeeper. However, the young actress won’t take no for an answer and she sneaks into the house to complete her goal. Of course, she’s busted eventually, but the old lady, the actress from the original film Wake. But against all odds, the old actress from the original Wake gives her the time.

That the old actress’ housekeeper doesn’t want her there is obvious. We don’t know why but we know this fact. But the old lady seems very loveable and she takes time to converse with the older actress. She gives here tips and hints on how to perform the demanding role of the lead actress in the remake of Wake. But something lies beneath the surface. We don’t know what it is yet, but we can tell that something isn’t as it should be.

Lake

The older, more experienced actress shows the younger aspiring actress, who goes by the name Lake by the way, a wonderful name, how to access her inner darkest place, instructing her that this is what she needs to get the part. We see flashbacks to Lake’s past and we can probably hint what her darkest moment is. We may not be entirely sure until we’re told what it is. But we can guess pretty close.

Lake

So far It’s pretty suspenseful and I think it’s interesting to see where this movie will lead us. What will happen with this confrontation of women when facing each other if there is really such darkness in the old lady? And if that will manifest itself in some way. That is where my curiosity lies. I’m more interested in the older woman’s darkness than the younger one. I guess it’s because it’s more hidden in the plot and not as easily accessible.

About a third in the movie I think this slow suspense is enough to get me interested to see where it will go. There are not so many questions to ask and there are not many answers to seek either. It’s pretty suspensive but that’s it. There’s an interest to know more without necessarily knowing what.

Snooping around

It’s always kind of terrifying when people start snooping around someone else’s house, going through draws and stuff like that. I think it’s some kind of empathic connection that you are afraid to get caught on their behalf or something. It always has that effect on me. Lake finds something that makes it kind of a darker movie. There’s also just stuff that is strange having lying around or a full room of hanging dresses.

It’s somewhat effective. But I would have wanted Wake to generate more questions in me. As I said before, there is something wrong, but we don’t know why. There is the big picture but there’s no means to break it down into smaller parts. Strange dilemma. But the acting is good, I particularly like Susan Reno as the older actress. The other are fine too, but what she does really gets my attention.

There are mainly three women in the cast. There are some other smaller parts as well, mainly in flashback. But even if they might be important for the backstory I don’t really notice them. But that’s the best actors after all. People who can become their parts so that you can’t separate the actor from the part are the best kind.

The story is divided into parts, or chapters if you prefer. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not. When I watched Wake I didn’t mind them at all, but thinking about them now I think they give away the story a little bit. First comes “The Lie”, and second is “The Initiation”. So far it might not hurt a bit and I must confess that I didn’t really connect the dots yet what I saw it.

Wake takes a tighter grip

But it’s also now Wake takes a tighter grip on you. It gets more interesting, you want to know what sinister things lie beneath. Because at this point you are totally convinced that there is something else buried in the story. I started to have my suspicions here about what would happen in the end. I was hoping I was wrong because it’s rather boring figuring out the twist and turn far too early in a film.

The third part “The Trap” somehow cemented my suspicions but I’m still very interested to see where the story will lead us. It could be done in an inventive way. In a manner, we haven’t really seen before. No, I won’t spoil is I the review here. But if you can’t see it when you are this far along in the movie so much the better. That might raise the shock value for you. At the very least, you know by now that all three women have their secrets and that they might not really want to deal with them. Or at least expose them to someone outside of the inner circle so to speak.

Final scene

In the fourth part, “The Transfer” every ounce of my suspicions is revealed to be true. There’s still hope in me that there will be another twist that proves me wrong. And that hope keeps up to the very end. I wish they had left the final scene out of it. Then it could still be interpreted in different ways. But the last 20-30 seconds really was a setback for me. Instead of being a clever psychological thriller, it becomes something else. A concept that has been seen before. I think that’s a shame because there was potential until the very end. For me that lowered the rating considerably.