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A Nightmare Wakes (2020) Review

The scary story of the woman who created the most famous monster

  • Lindsay Traves Lindsay Traves
  • February 2, 2021
  • 3 Minute Read
A Nightmare Wakes (2020) Review 4
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Score: 7 / 10

Somewhere in the space between dreams and reality sits the story of a creator. A creator of life from death. Mary Shelley and her creation, Victor Frankenstein, and Victor Frankenstein’s creation, the monster. A Nightmare Wakes, the biographical film about Frankenstein (1818) writer, Mary Shelley, ponders not only the fabrication that sits between sleep and wake, it also asks who the monster is in Shelley’s infamous story.

The haunting tale opens with a pregnant woman walking into water. Though not contextualized, it sets the tone for the marriage of life and death strewn throughout the movie. Mary (Alix Wilton Regan) accompanied by her soon to be husband, Percy Shelley (Giullian Yao Gioiello) and her stepsister, Claire (Claire Glassford) visit the home of the poet, Lord Byron (Philippe Bowgen). The pregnant Mary and her chums are forced inside where Byron suggests they write scary stories. Enamoured by the exercise and haunted by mysterious grief, Mary concocts what would become Frankenstein, the story of a doctor creating life from remains.

A Nightmare Wakes (2020) Review 1

Final Thoughts:

Nora Unkel’s approach to the woman behind the monster blends horror and biography to gorgeous effect. It has no interest in hanging the viewer the story, it, instead, takes the viewer through it the way Shelly might have experienced it.
Lindsay Traves

Lindsay Traves

After submitting her Bachelor's thesis, “The Metaphysics of Schwarzenegger Movies,” Lindsay decided to focus on writing about her passions; sci-fi, horror, sports, and comic books. She covers movies and games for CGMagazine and you can follow her work on Twitter @smashtraves.
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A Nightmare Wakes (2020) Review 6

A Nightmare Wakes

Director(s): Nora Unkel
Cast: Alix Wilton Regan, Giullian Yao Gioiello, Philippe Bowgen, Lee Garrett
Studio: Shudder
Running Time: 90 min

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