Could "Awake" Break the Post-Apocalyptic Mold?

Platform: Netflix

Release Date: June 9, 2021

Netflix is hitting the scene with another post-apocalyptic original film, perhaps hoping to capture the buzz that surrounded the Sandra Bullock led “Birdbox”. Where that film focused on an epidemic of blindness, “Awake” follows a family after a, suspected, solar flare wipes out the use of electronics and causes an inability for humans to sleep. Working as a security guard in a hospital, Jill (Gina Rodriguez) is reminded of the decomposition of the mind and body, as well as the eventual death that is brought on by sleep deprivation. Once Jill learns that her daughter Matilda (Ariana Greenblatt) has the ability to sleep, she takes Matilda and her son Noah (Lucius Hoyos) away from populated areas to keep them safe while encountering a sleep-deprived humanity. At the same time, she must struggle between helping the military find a cure and keeping Matilda safe, with the decision of whether take Matilda to the military for testing. However, being a former army medic, Jill does not trust the extent to which the military would go to find a cure.

This movie presents a really interesting premise in the form of uncontrollable sleep deprivation. With the slowing down of executive functions, the exhaustion-induced hallucinations, and the deterioration of motor functioning, there was the potential for a lot of interesting avenues of the human condition to be explored. Like many movies with apocalyptic level events, there was also a large element of human drama with Jill having been working to regain the custody of her children and the quick change in dynamics caused by these events. In addition, there was the inclusion of Dodge (Shamier Anderson), an escaped inmate, and Jill's rush to prepare her daughter to survive without her family. There was a lot to dive into in regards to the plot, too much actually, resulting in a few too many plot holes and a lack of focus. For such a level of desperation we are supposed to be experiencing from the characters, it was difficult to establish any emotional connection. I will not put too much of that on the actors' performances, but more on just having too much plot to have to balance.

The apocalyptic world they created in the film was also a bit inconsistent. This movie takes place over a few days or so, as that is the timeline they established in regards to the body's breakdown from lack of sleep. However, in the same time period we experience overrun hospitals, people violently invading a pharmacy, and a completely abandoned town. It is a bit more forgiving as they travel through what appears to be more countryside, but there were too many different levels of apocalypse that were artificially created to fit different parts of the story. Where I think the movie could have created a more complete world, other than a more consistent level of apocalypse, was in touching on a few other aspects of the surrounding world. For example, if the solar flare impacted brains what did it do to animals? Human versus human conflict is always heavily leaned into with these types of movies and opportunities to do something different seem easily passed over.

The story in itself, while convoluted, was almost too simple and trope-y in regards to some of the obstacles the family encounters. Firstly, the inclusion of electronics being unusable is added fluff with no real pay-off. Even worse, the conclusion and “cure” explanation is almost comically tied back to the most basic ways of fixing malfunctioning electronics. Secondly, you get a lot of the usual apocalyptic journey difficulties: crazed religious people, running out of bullets at the worst time, and a roadblock ambush. The movies premise really only shines in the third act, where it finally leans hard into the effects of sleep deprivation and chaos ensues at the military operation. This is what I would have loved to see scattered throughout the movie, to witness the degradation of the human brain in stages as the movie set up in the beginning. Though, the existence of this plot point is frustrating in that all poor character decisions can be chalked up to a decrease in executive functioning. It is a smart way of writing past usual character critiques.

“Awake” is not going to blow anyone away, but it does a good job of drawing your interest into how the movie will pan out. However, keeping your interest throughout every aspect is a different story. Not the absolute worst way to spend an evening with somewhat of a new element in the post-apocalyptic sub-genre. Unfortunately, the movie did not really play into that new element enough to feel like a fresh take and just comes off as a messy post-apocalyptic movie.

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RATING: 😴 😴 / 5

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