''Awake'' is a 2021 American apocalyptic

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

, directed by

Mark Raso Mark Raso is a Canadian narrative filmmaker and co-owner of the production company Fidelio Films. He is best known for writing and directing the feature-length film ''Copenhagen (2014 film), Copenhagen'' in 2014, directing ''Kodachrome (film), Kod ...

, from a screenplay he wrote alongside Joseph Raso. It stars

Gina Rodriguez Gina Alexis Rodriguez (born July 30, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Globe Award f ...

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She re ...

Barry Pepper Barry Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970) is a Canadian-American actor. His best-known film roles include Private Daniel Jackson in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), Roger Maris in '' ...

Finn Jones Finn Jones (born Terence Jones; 24 March 1988) is an English actor known for his roles as Loras Tyrell in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2016) and Danny Rand / Iron Fist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television shows '' Iron Fi ...

, Shamier Anderson,

Ariana Greenblatt Ariana Greenblatt (born August 27, 2007) is an American actress. Her first starring role was in the Disney Channel comedy series ''Stuck in the Middle'' (2016–2018). Other early roles included the comedy film '' A Bad Moms Christmas'' (2017), ...

Frances Fisher Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is an American actress. She began her career in theater and later starred as Detective Deborah Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Edge of Night'' (1976–1981). In film, she is known for her rol ...

, Elias Edraki, Lucius Hoyos and

Gil Bellows Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor, producer, screenwriter, and director. Upon graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he began acting in films and television. Bellows also earned critical acclaim for his stage p ...

. Rodriguez plays Jill (Rodriguez) who discovers her daughter (Greenblatt) may be immune to a disorder causing mass chronic

sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...

and attempts to bring her daughter to a laboratory to help develop a cure. The film was released by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on June 9, 2021, 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.

Plot

Former

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

medic A medic is a person trained to provide medical care, encompassing a wide range of individuals involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. The term can refer to fully qualified medical practitioners, such as physic ...

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

. 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 and kill each other, Jill rescues Matilda with the help of one of the doctors. Noah, hallucinating, electrocutes himself. Jill and Matilda try resuscitating him but suffer a mild electrocution from improperly using the defibrillator. The next morning, Matilda notices that Noah was successfully revived and he awakens, 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

had joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay by himself and Joseph Raso and with

distributing. In August 2019,

, Shamier Anderson,

, Lucius Hoyos and

joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in August 2019.

Reception

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."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title American science fiction thriller films American science fiction action films American action thriller films Netflix original films Lionsgate Canada films 2021 science fiction action films 2021 action thriller films 2021 films 2020s science fiction thriller films Films about sleep disorders Films scored by Antônio Pinto 2020s English-language films Films directed by Mark Raso 2020s American films English-language action thriller films English-language science fiction action films English-language science fiction thriller films