A NIGHTMARE WAKES loses the heart of its own story
Written and directed by Nora Unkel
Starring Alix Wilton Regan, Guillian Yao Gioiello, Philippe Bowgen, and Claire Glassford
Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
Content Warning: Rape, Miscarrage, Child death
Streaming on Shudder starting Feb 4
by Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer
'Knowing that I would be reviewing this film I decided to start reading the 1818 version of Frankenstein as I have read and seen adaptations of the story but never read it myself. That version has a beautifully written introduction by Charlotte Gordon, giving a brief summary of Mary Shelley’s life leading up to her writing of this classic tale. Although it does not feel entirely necessary to have this foundation of understanding going into A Nightmare Wakes, it did help me separate some of the fact from fiction. Writer and director Nora Unkel takes on the ambitious task of sewing Mary Shelley’s life into her most famous piece of fiction.
Alix Wilton Regan plays Mary Wollstonecraft who recently ran away with her lover, the poet Percy Shelley (Guillian Yao Gioiello). Her family has shunned her for her decision to run away with the married man whose child she is carrying. The couple has only a few friends surrounding them including Lord Byron (Philippe Bowgen), Dr. John Polidori (Lee Garrett), and Shelley’s step sister Claire (Claire Glassford). After a challenge is issued to the group to create the scariest tale, Mary Shelley takes inspiration from her nightmares and is compelled to write the story of a scientist creating life. As her waking world becomes more of a nightmare and her relationship with her lover seems to lose its spark, Mary becomes consumed by her story leading her down a path that threatens to make her lose her grip on reality.
Much in the vein of last year’s hit Shirley, starring Elisabeth Moss, which tells a fictionalized story of Shirley Jackson as she wrote Hangsaman, this tells the fictionalized version of Shelley’s life, intertwining it with her story of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation. While I think there are some very interesting stories one can tell through these fictionalized biopics, this film felt as bland as its color palette. There are many interesting ideas and themes that the film brings forward, but it ends up feeling cold and lifeless. The film’s interpretation of Mary seems far less interesting than the real life figure and her descent into madness hits a dead end that does not go anywhere.
While the film does play with many real aspects of Shelley’s life, including some of the tragedies that befell the author while she wrote the story much of the story is fictionalized to serve a particular purpose in the film. The story deals with the challenges of motherhood, trauma, and a deteriorating love affair. As Mary and Percy grow further apart, Mary is seduced by the Doctor in her story who becomes her dream man, or nightmare man in many respects. There are also the societal issues that Mary–like many women–are affected by much more harshly than men. Mary longs for the security of marriage in order to make sure that there is food on the table and some assurances if/when Percy loses interest. Being single and pregnant, especially at this time, was more than enough to shun a woman from proper society. Much like Frankenstien, Mary deals with the potential of creating something that is unloveable. All of these ideas are incredibly interesting and end up being some of the best aspects of the film.
Although overall A Nightmare Wakes looks and feels rather drab, Unkel does use some interesting visuals that work in its favor. Oftentimes Mary has visions of either crying or bleeding ink as if the story is so much that it is bursting from her like a wound. Mary also often drifts from reality and into her story, in these moments Percy becomes Frankenstein and Claire becomes Elizabeth, playing on how these characters are inspired by and potentially more interesting versions of the people around her. There are several sequences when Mary is covered in both blood and ink as if the two are becoming bonded for her as death and creating both consume her.
The biggest issue with the film is the lack of compelling performances. Although I commend the film for trying to create a somewhat diverse cast (as opposed to choosing actors that look like the real life figures), not one of the performances felt particularly interesting or notable, which is truly unfortunate. Mary’s character oscillates between shunning and groveling at the feet of her gaslighting husband. While it is understandable the predicament she is in and why she acts that way it makes her far less of an interesting woman. It is hard to understand her and her actions. In one scene with Percy he asks “What happened to the girl I ran away with”, Mary responds “I woke up”. If only it felt like that Mary.
I had so wished to love this film especially since on the surface it had so many interesting elements going for it. If it had dove deeper into its social issues or had a clearer idea of what it wanted to do with Mary it would have been a hit. There are also several potentially triggering moments that never seem to serve a purpose. While this reviewer finds it hard to truly recommend the film, I do suggest researching the real life Shelly and her extraordinary life.