Before I Go to Sleep evokes a big yawn

A NAKED woman wakes up one morning in a stranger's bed. She doesn't know where she is or who the man sleeping next to her is, but that's not the worst of it because you see, she doesn't even know who she is. The man wakes up, says his name is Ben and informs her that they've been married for the last 14 years, and that her condition is a result of a terrible incident a decade ago.

Before I Go to Sleep is a movie about Christine (Nicole Kidman), a woman with atypical psychogenic amnesia, which means she wakes up each day with no memory of anything that has happened before she went to sleep the previous night. Her memory bank only stores a day's worth of her life before it is all erased the next day.

It all sounds a little like Groundhog Day meets Edge of Tomorrow - minus the sense of humour. The film, written and directed by Rowan Joffe and adapted from the bestseller by S J Watson, is an agonizingly slow-paced psychological thriller that is unlikely to stir any emotion beyond extreme boredom. Every day is a struggle for Christine, but at least she didn't have to sit through this movie.

After Ben (Colin Firth) leaves for work each day, Christine gets a call from Dr Nasch (Mark Strong), a neuropsychologist who has been treating her without her husband's knowledge. He reminds her of the secret video diary that she has been keeping in order to help her recall people and events of the past. In the video, she tells herself not to trust Ben: it turns out he's lied to her about a few things.

With prompting from the two men, Christine uncovers a few snippets of information about herself: a young son that passed away, a good female friend who for some reason hasn't kept in touch. She has a few flashbacks of the violent assault that took place, but it's still unclear (to her anyway - for the rest of us, the 'mystery' is only too predictable) what exactly happened to her.

Kidman and Firth recently teamed up for The Railway Man, another book adaptation about a traumatised spouse, although with a very different sensibility. This time around, Kidman - looking suitably pale, helpless and weary - takes centre stage but no matter how teary-eyed she gets, the material simply isn't convincing enough.

Before I Go to Sleep ends in a burst of violence but there's no suspense to be found in a movie whose resolution is telegraphed well before the final reel. To their credit the performers make an effort but they could have sleepwalked through their roles and the result would have been the same: a film about amnesia that is all too forgettable.

Rating: C-