MovieChat Forums > Before I Wake (2018) Discussion > One flaw in the mother giving the kid Am...

One flaw in the mother giving the kid Ambien to sleep...

posted 8 years ago by ispamforfood
16 replies | jump to latest

She was actually trying to make him sleep so that he would dream of Sean... Which is fine, if sleeping pills were able to mimic normal the normal sleep cycle. The only problem with that is that sleeping pills tend to reduce REM sleep, so its highly unlikely that when he falls asleep after being drugged with Ambien, that he will have much of a REM stage, thus it is a bad way of getting him to sleep, just so Mom could spend some more time with Sean.

I spose I can give the writers a pass for this, because they don't expect that all their viewers are going to know that much about sleeping pills... But nevertheless, it is a bit of a plot hole.

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Right now, we are alive... And in this moment, I swear... We are infinite.

[–] nashknight-1 8 years ago

It wasn't Ambien, it was "something like Ambien", so we can imagine it doesn't have that side effect

[–] ispamforfood 8 years ago

Virtually all sedative and hypnotic drugs reduce REM sleep. Even the LESS powerful sleep aids like Ambien and Lunesta reduce REM... It's a terrible method for inducing dreams. Just sayin.

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Right now, we are alive... And in this moment, I swear... We are infinite.

[–] kobeandodom 8 years ago

You are assuming she is explicitly trying to drug him in order to force a dream state so she can spend time with Sean. When she could easily be simply trying to help the kid sleep....

[–] oscar_ray2_jimenez 8 years ago

You're trolling, right? Can't fathom you aren't, honestly

The fact that mom, once she realizes what Cody's dreams do materialize in the real world, goes off her way to use every bitchy trick in her huge, amoral bitch trick bag -talking about the dead kid, showing the videos, taking a full jar of coffee after putting Cody to bed to stay awake while waiting for the dead son's ghost, etcetera- is a HUGE plot point in the movie. Hell, we witness the husband scolding her for it once he realizes, and even afterwards she admites it out loud, stating it clearly and apologizing to Cody for using him - after the husband's dissappearance opens a small crack in her level 50 Bitch Armor and a minuscule bit of culpability manages to slip through it. In other words, the movie itself tells you it's so in its own movie language. To be more blatantly obvious than that you'd need six feet tall neon sign pointing to the plot element you want to highlight.

Geez.

And to the OP, you're absolutely, dead-on right. I tough the same and talked about it with my wife while we saw the movie -the weakest one we've seen from Flanagan, by far. By the way, we can't believe this tepid, cliche-ridden mess came from the same mind that brouht us in the past one of the most cliche-free movies of the decade, "Absentia". Appalling, to put it mildly.

[–] kobeandodom 8 years ago

Not trolling at all and you can't prove it either way, she seemed like a good mom and i think she wanted the boy to get a good nights sleep.

[–] trombleykyle 8 years ago

Lmao, no she wasn't, and no she didn't. Literally the night before she was getting irritated that Cody wasn't going to sleep, because she was trying to see her son.. His best interest wasn't in mind, only hers was, and it got her husband killed...

[–] Li-1 8 years ago

She was clearly trying to get the boy to sleep and dream about her dead son. (Spoilers) Her selfishness cost her husband his life and she didn't even seem to care about that by the end.

[–] Korios 8 years ago

No way, you are either trolling, being stubborn or are a bit LLC up there.

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.

[–] theLastResortt 8 years ago

What a hostile board this is.
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[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Strawberrry35 8 years ago

It was zolpidem, a generic for ambien.

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

I'd be curious why they didn't try a drug that lets you sleep and rest but actively suppresses dreams. If such a drug exists. And if that is healthy or not. But it sure might have been a stop gap solution to the problem.

At least they could have slept in the same room / bed as the kid as a safety measure.

[–] monstervisiontvfilms-28632 8 years ago

Well, she definitely wanted him to dream about the dead son. No question about that.

But the sleeping pill thing is up for interpretation. The boy rarely sleeps, so it is possible that when he is finally forced to sleep, he goes deep, on a pill or not.

It IS commonly known as you suggest that sleeping pills reduce REM sleep, but that's not taking in account other factors, such as the kids already present extreme exhaustion. The kid was taking massive amounts of caffeine, etc., and was bound to crash. The sleeping pill could have simply acted as the catalyst.

It is also commonly known that in some individuals, sleeping pills induce certain side effects such as vivid dreams and nightmares.

So as long as there is a possibility, I can subscribe to the way the movie played it out.

[–] IvyTempleton 8 years ago

It is also commonly known that in some individuals, sleeping pills induce certain side effects such as vivid dreams and nightmares.

Happens to me. I enjoy it though. But yeah just like Benadryl can cause some people to stay awake but makes most people drowsy.

[–] Korios 8 years ago

I thought the bigger plot hole was the police taking him away from her because she "drugged" him. He was two days asleep and the medication was prescribed. Yes, her real motive at the time was to see her dead son, but the police did not know that. Why on Earth would a doctor advice would not suffice for giving a (child's) sedative to your foster son? Are they suggesting that she should have called the child services or.. what.. the police first? What would their solution for the kid's insomnia be exactly? And come on, child abuse? Seriously now?

This was a cheap plot device to get the kid away for her, in order for her to turn around and get to the bottom of this, plain and simple.

In the hospital they went even farther, and after being also two days asleep they gave him a stronger sedative with a freaking needle. Why did they not arrest the doctors there for .. "child abuse"?

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.

[–] myronkelsey 8 years ago

I thought the same thing.