DEAD BEFORE THEY WAKE (2024)

3 stars

Deskpop Entertainment US 7th January/High Fliers UK 27th January. Digital

The opening scene establishes that our protagonist Alex (Nathan Shepka who also wrote the script and co-directed with Andy Crane) can take care of himself and is also prepared to “step up” to protect a vulnerable female. He sees two other blokes mistreating a possibly drunk lady – he fetches a baseball from the boot of his car and beats the duo and carries the girl back to safety.

We then see a young girl Chloe walking the street alone at night. At the bus stop a taxi driver pulls up and tells her the last bus was half an hour ago. He offers her lift despite the fact she has no money. Stupidly she gets in. When the driver’s friend also gets in the back seat things turn creepy rapidly – luckily she manages to get out and makes a run for it and escapes. She is one of the lucky ones.

Alex has a pretty mundane existence living in a trailer park and sometimes working as a bouncer. He also goes visit his deaf Dad who is in a home and they both sign to each other. Gemma, a teacher who has a sideline as a stripper, and is struggling financially, visits Alex for sex, which he pays for (though it is clear she actually wants more from the relationship).

Drinking alone in a bar, he is approached by Evan (Sylvester McCoy) a retired lawyer. They have a mutual friend Paul Ward. Alex was a bouncer a while back at Ward’ nightclub. Evan needs a ‘favour’ 

Bianca, a 14 year old girl, has been missing for two weeks. The teen is being exploited by a sex trafficking ring. The fee is £20k – which is being put up by someone high up in central government, a married man, who is mixed up with Bianca’s mum (who is a drug addict). Whilst Alex isn’t initially keen, he changes his mind after watching a DVD he is given, showing girls who have been trafficked, which appeals to his sense of morality. Ultimately we know this will lead to violence as he delves into this dark and sordid world which is full of scum bag characters. Will he find the girl?

This is a strong and sometimes grim low budget drama/thriller exploring a difficult and troubling subject matter in a non-exploitative way. Unfortunately we know this kind of thing goes on. It does reveals it’s indie origins at times, with some wobbly acting, plus it could have done with some tightening in the edit to give it more pace, however it does give itself time to at least flesh out Alex’s character beyond the strong silent type – with Shepka suitably brooding with violence bubbling under the surface – which leads into a bloody, brutal and explosive finale.

Steve Kirkham