[3] The film stars Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane, Jacob Tremblay, Annabeth Gish, Topher Bousquet and Dash Mihok.

Before I Wake premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 31, 2016, and Netflix released it in the United States on January 5, 2018.

Jessie and Mark Hobson take in a foster child, eight-year-old Cody Morgan, after their young son Sean dies from accidentally drowning.

Social worker Natalie Friedman informs Mark and Jessie that when Cody was three years old, his mother died of cancer, and that two previous attempts to place him with foster parents were unsuccessful.

Cody falls asleep at school, and "the Canker Man" appears before Tate and devours him, while Annie watches in horror and screams, waking him up.

Suspicious of Mark's sudden disappearance and suspecting domestic violence, social services takes Cody away to an orphanage.

Jessie arrives at the orphanage late at night to find it dark and haunted by Cody's nightmares, with the other children tied by vines to the walls.

[6] On November 7, 2013, Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane joined the lead cast of the film as the child's parents, and Jacob Tremblay was set to play as Cody.

[4] On November 18, 2013, Annabeth Gish joined the cast of the film to play Natalie, the case worker assigned to young Cody.

[18] Excluding the United States, Netflix released the movie worldwide on April 28, 2017, and also on Blu-ray and DVD in Canada.

[21] The film holds a 67% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews and an average rating of 6.47/10 and the consensus reads "Beware this waking nightmare: Before I Wake isn't always lucid enough to escape its wobbly story, but crafts a neat horror landscape of grief".

Club gave the film a B grade, writing: "Horror movies that exploit broad childhood phobias about bedtime lights-outs and basement chores are a dime a dozen, but it's really refreshing to find one made with a parent's curiosity and concern for a child's point of view.

"[25] Reagan Gavin Rasquinha of The Times of India was more critical, giving it 2/5 stars and writing: "This is at best, cookie-cutter horror that joins the dots, fine, but it doesn't dish out anything memorable.