Awake (2021 film)

Last updated
Awake
Awake (2021 film) Official Poster.jpg
Official release poster
Directed by Mark Raso
Screenplay by
  • Mark Raso
  • Joseph Raso
Story by Gregory Poirier
Produced by Paul Schiff
Starring
CinematographyAlan Poon
Edited byMichele Conroy
Music by Antonio Pinto
Production
companies
Distributed by Netflix
Release date
  • June 9, 2021 (2021-06-09)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Awake is a 2021 American apocalyptic science fiction thriller film, directed by Mark Raso, from a screenplay he wrote alongside Joseph Raso. It stars Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Barry Pepper, Finn Jones, Shamier Anderson, Ariana Greenblatt, Frances Fisher, Elias Edraki, Lucius Hoyos and Gil Bellows. Rodriguez plays Jill (Rodriguez) who discovers her daughter (Greenblatt) may be immune to a disorder causing mass chronic sleep deprivation and attempts to bring her daughter to a laboratory to help develop a cure.

Contents

The film was released by Netflix on June 9, 2021, [1] [2] and received generally negative reviews from film critics who criticized the derivative plot and lack of tension. However, it reached number one worldwide on the platform when it was released. [3]

Plot

Former U.S. Army medic and recovering addict, Jill Adams, works as a security guard at a local college where she steals drugs from the research lab to sell. She has two children, Noah and Matilda.

While driving, their car loses power and is hit by another car, sending it into a lake. Matilda drowns but is revived by a police officer who reveals that everything that uses electricity is malfunctioning. At the hospital, they learn that coma patients have awoken. At home, the family is unable to sleep. On her way to work, Jill observes that the whole neighborhood is awake. Psychiatrist Dr. Murphy explains that people appear to be no longer able to fall asleep and they will soon suffer from sleep deprivation. The only known exception is an old woman who is being studied at a military base called The Hub, in hopes of finding a cure.

Jill remembers that Matilda appeared to be asleep that morning, and fears that she may be dead. She finds Matilda at church, where the churchgoers want to sacrifice her. After an officer opens fire, the ensuing chaos allows Jill to flee with her kids. Noah tells a reluctant Jill that they should bring Matilda to The Hub.

En route to The Hub, an escaped prisoner steals their car with Matilda in it. Jill and Noah are saved from the other hostile prisoners by the thief of their car, Dodge. Upon reaching The Hub, Jill has Dodge leave and enters The Hub alone. She finds the other woman who can sleep in ill condition. Murphy explains that there is no cure and lab workers have been using a drug that helps the brain function to keep them going. However, it is only temporary and causes neurological damage. The army confronts the family and Matilda tearfully admits that she can sleep.

Doctors decide to find what makes Matilda special. Matilda sees an ape in the lab that doesn't fall asleep when given anesthetic gas. The doctor reveals that chimps are the only animals besides humans that can't sleep due to their biological closeness to humans. They test the gas on Matilda and she falls asleep. Jill is handcuffed in a room where she experiences delirium.

Murphy explains to Jill that the sleep disorder was caused by the same solar flare that knocked out power, affecting humans' brains. Dodge is taken as a guard and given stimulants. The woman who can sleep goes into cardiac arrest and dies. Noah is taken away for experiments. As the soldiers start to go insane, Jill rescues Matilda. Noah, hallucinating, electrocutes himself. Jill and Matilda try resuscitating him but are unsuccessful.

Noah suddenly wakes up the next morning, saying that he was dreaming. As Jill is exhausted and dying, Matilda realizes the reason that she and Noah could sleep was because they had both temporarily died. They then drown Jill in a lake and attempt to resuscitate her. She awakens just as the camera cuts to the credits.

Cast

Production

In May 2019, it was announced Gina Rodriguez had joined the cast of the film, with Mark Raso directing from a screenplay by himself and Joseph Raso and with Netflix distributing. [4] In August 2019, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Barry Pepper, Finn Jones, Shamier Anderson, Ariana Greenblatt, Frances Fisher, Lucius Hoyos and Gil Bellows joined the cast of the film. [5]

Principal photography began in August 2019. [6] [7]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 24% of 51 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "A scattered and shallow disaster flick, Awake will have audiences reaching for the snooze button." [8] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 35 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. [9]

Nick Allen at The Playlist called it "abysmal" gave the film a "D". He wrote that the movie "proves it has no idea how to present its one original idea with visual thrills, and it foolishly underestimates how performance is key to horror like this." [10]

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References

  1. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 12, 2021). "Netflix Unveils A 2021 Film Slate With Bigger Volume & Star Wattage; Scott Stuber On The Escalating Film Ambition". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ Kroll, Justin (April 27, 2021). "Netflix Unveils Summer Movie Slate That Includes New 'Bob Ross' Documentary And Footage From Upcoming Films Like 'He's All That' And Kevin Hart's 'Fatherhoood'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  3. ↑ "TOP 10 on Netflix in the World on June 11, 2021". Flixpatrol. June 11, 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 30, 2019). "Gina Rodriguez To Star In Mark Raso-Directed 'Awake' For Netflix". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  5. ↑ Kroll, Justin (August 21, 2019). "Gina Rodriguez's Sci-Fi Thriller 'Awake' Rounds Out Cast (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  6. ↑ Marc, Christopher (June 11, 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: Netflix Sci-Fi Flick 'Awake' Starring Gina Rodriguez Shoots August–September In Toronto and Adds 'Handmaid's Tale' Production Designer". HN Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Current Productions & News: Awake". toronto.ca. 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Awake". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 2023-01-11. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  9. ↑ "Awake". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  10. ↑ "'Awake': The Apocalypse Has Rarely Been This Abysmal In Netflix's Lazy Thriller [Review]". theplaylist.net. Archived from the original on 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
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