Eli Adler, a passionate child psychiatrist, takes care of each patient with great empathy. However, devastated by the unexpected death of his wife, Lynn, he is considering retirement. Everything changes when he meets Noah, an eight-year-old boy in trouble, needing his help. What begins as a routine case quickly becomes a baffling investigation. With each new clue, Eli's perception of reality is called into question.
When the past and the present become one
The series immerses viewers in a mystical, even supernatural universe from the very first episode. The captivating aspect of the series and the relationship between Eli and Noah is significantly enhanced by the lighting, the sets, the music, and the staging.
Eli (played by Billy Crystal) is haunted by the death of his wife Lynn. He regularly has hallucinations of her, who seems to be the embodiment of his subconscious. The interpretation of these scenes briefly evokes those observed in Perception, when Daniel Pierce had hallucinations of Natalie, his former campaign. Did Eli suffer from a condition that caused him to have an altered perception of reality like Daniel Pierce? At this stage of the series, no diagnosis has been made regarding the doctor's condition, but it is not a hypothesis to be dismissed, as it becomes evident throughout the episodes that Eli is not a reliable narrator.
Two essential elements are highlighted in the early episodes of the series: the cabin in the woods and the depiction of a liquid (water or blood). Eli seems to constantly hear drops of water falling. Although the initial signs point to trauma caused by the death of his wife, the latest episodes encourage a different reflection.
Elli seems to rely exclusively on science to understand the world around her, but she will face an obstacle when she cannot justify certain situations with logic.
Questioning science
Eli realizes that Noah's visions and his own are interconnected, adding an extra layer of mystery to the story. Indeed, in one of his hallucinations, Noah stabs him. Subsequently, this scene is depicted with Noah feeling a great deal of guilt due to his actions. The interconnection between the two people is such that Eli sometimes says he feels like he is in Noah's dream.
Eli's faith in science will not be shaken solely by these hallucinations. Indeed, the child psychiatrist discovers that Noah has knowledge about one of his wife's children's books. This leads him to question the relationship that might exist between the boy and Lynn. When Eli realizes that the cabin in the woods, which seems to be the focal point of their hallucinations, is also present in the woman's drawings and in a photo placed on her refrigerator, the viewers are plunged into the supernatural world.
When Noah declares that they are the characters from Lynn's drawing, the mystery surrounding the connection between the characters intensifies. In the illustration, they are surrounded by snow. According to Noah, they are looking for their friend. Which friend are they talking about exactly? The shadow will not be lifted on this information for the moment.
The intensity of Eli and Noah's hallucinations gradually increases over the episodes. This time, Noah and Eli are convinced that a worm is hiding under Noah's skin. Eli quickly realizes that Lynn's ex-boyfriend, Benjamin Walker, also believed he had worms under his skin. A similarity in the profiles of the two characters then becomes apparent: they both suffer from hallucinations, had the same symptoms in their delirium, and they are both afraid of the house in the woods. Elli realizes that the similarities between the characters are not limited to that when he remembers being the on-call doctor who took care of Benjamin when he was hospitalized.
One might wonder with whom Noah is actually in a relationship. Did Lynn or Benjamin possess him? When Noah claims to know the acts Eli has committed and Eli tells him that the latter has caused him harm, on whose behalf is he speaking then? Episode 6 creates new uncertainty for viewers by revealing aspects of the doctor's past.
Conclusion
Before is built around several characters whose fates are linked to a tragic incident. All the episodes reveal a bit more about the past of these characters, uncovering mysteries and hidden traumas. The series encourages viewers to reflect on their own experiences and how the past can affect their present. A series that manages to stand out from conventional thrillers, which could surprise more than one.
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