Awake

Movie has an interesting premise but like Greenland, another "disaster" movie I watched recently, it's as if the writers imagined the film as sci-fi but hadn't a clue how to actually write a plot with science, so they threw a few crumbs in the plot to get it going then Awake turned into a road trip to nothing. The characters were unable to sleep but I didn't have any trouble....

The movie is more about a former soldier/mom/recovering drug abuser and her vulnerabilities, which is generally fine, but like Greenland, Awake falls into one complication after the other in an attempt to get to safety / find a cure which, again is generally ok, but it should have had some science along the way to make it seem like a, well, sci-fi. In the beginning of the movie just after the accident the movie seemed to actually skip an important piece of information--where the characters become aware of the inability to sleep. Seems there would have been more buzz about that moment. Instead the movie jumps ahead like we're supposed to know that the world, except for two people, can't sleep and will go crazy and die. Well, nothing interesting (sciency) really happens from there. And the ending? What ending? It is a CHEAP shot by a writer to avoid a real ending. Go ahead and watch the film if you have nothing better to do just to check out that... ending. The little girl who couldn't sleep did a fine job acting. Gina Rodriguez is good a playing a vulnerable but tough mom who does a lot of sobbing like mom's are supposed to do. She's also good at playing characters who sound like they have asthma and no inhaler.

Could have been a better movie. I wouldn't have paid money to see it (well I sorta did since I'm a Netflix sub). Was hoping for more.

"Awake" is pure chaos..There was not a single scene that caught my attention. Watch something else instead.

Movie couldn't hold my interest much but I finished it hoping for a good climax, but it ended in disappointment.

Some people compare Awake with Bird Box (S. Bullock) but whereas I was highly entertained and thrilled by the latter one (my rate: 7), I watched Awake rather drowned in an ocean of indifference. Awake simply lacks of thrill and action and the story told unfolds very slowly and there are just too many scenes and dialogues that are all cliche in. In this sense Awake reminds me a lot of Greenland (2020, Gerard Butler), which also tells us a story that works more or less on auto-pilot: scenes after scenes we watched million times before. In short: the script is (like in so many movies these days) the weakest link (the ending is not only a cheap twist but a joke too), and whereas movies like Bird Box or The Road are top contributions to the genre of post-apocalyptic movies, Awake sails close on the edge of boredom.

Last note: the writer and director should have done some experiments with sleep deprivation: I managed 10 days (back then in my younger years) without the necessity of a visit of a mental institute and/or the notion to run havoc or beat up my fellow humans ;)

Sure, "Awake" was watchable, but the movie was just one of those movie that you watch once, because it is adequately entertaining, but then you forget about the movie and never return to it again.

And that is because there were just way too many things in the movie that made so little sense. I especially found it ludicrous that society would break out in anarchy after such a short time. Sure, I get that staying awake for prolonged periods of time starts to affect the brain, but come on, for people to start looting, killing each other and such, nah, that was just a bit too far fetched.

The storyline in "Awake" definitely had some interesting enough aspects. But ultimately, then writers Joseph Raso, Mark Raso and Gregory Poirier just managed to come up with a mediocre storyline.

I will say that the acting performances put on in "Awake" were fair, and while I am not overly familiar with actress Gina Rodriguez, she actually carried the movie quite well with her performance.

I had expected a bit more from director Mark Raso with this 2021 movie. Sure, it made for an adequate enough watch, but it just wasn't a wow-moment.

My rating of "Awake" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.