If I Should Die Before I Wake (1952)

Si muero antes de despertar (1952)

or If I Should Die Before I Wake

starring Néstor Zavarce

directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen

67 minutes

in Spanish with English subtitles

Lucho Santana (Néstor Zavarce) makes friends with Alicia, one of his classmates, when they are in third grade. She tells him about a secret friend she has, a man, but only after Lucho has taken a solemn oath not to tell anyone about Alicia's friend. Days later Alicia disappear and soon thereafter her body is found.

Lucho goes through a bit of trauma after deciding not to say anything because he swore to Alicia that he would not reveal anything. Years go by Lucho forgets about what happened to Alicia but then Julia, another classmate, tells him about her secret friend who gives her art supplies.

Lucho remembers everything in a flash. He tries to warn Julia but she doesn't listen and circumstances conspire to make it difficult for him to protect Julia. He gets kicked out of school. His parents lock him in his room but he escapes and goes looking for Julia.

Thoughts

I saw this movie as part of the 2024 edition of the Noir City DC film festival. It was the back half of a double feature. The front half was Never Open That Door (1952). Both films were directed by the same person.

This movie is based on a story by Cornell Woolrich. According to my research, it was to be the third story in Never Open That Door (1952) but it was released as its own movie because combined with the other two stories it would have made that movie over two hours long.

The performances in this movie are good. I'm not sure how closely to the original story the movie was.

This story is nowhere near as subtle as the two in Never Open That Door (1952). There are aspects of it that feel like they were influenced by the films of Alfred Hitchcock. I mean that as a compliment. The movie felt quite serious at first but the ending was quite melodramatic and felt rushed.