“Awake” (Netflix) has one of those premises that could turn out ingenious or stupid, but it unfortunately leans more toward the latter. In an unneeded riff on the “X-Files” classic “Sleepless,” the human race is suddenly unable to sleep and they will therefore gradually go crazy and die.
This allows for a new angle on zombie apocalypse films, but only on paper. In practice, we’ve seen this before.
Apocalyptic trek
The final act recovers somewhat, but I had largely checked out by then. Mother Jill (Gina Rodriguez of “Kajillionaire”), teen son Noah (Lucius Hoyos) and young daughter Matilda (Ariana Greenblatt of “Love and Monsters”) try to get away from the chaos of their city.
“Awake” (2021)
Director: Mark Raso
Writers: Joseph Raso, Mark Raso (screenplay); Gregory Poirier (story)
Stars: Gina Rodriguez, Ariana Greenblatt, Lucius Hoyos
Amid their aimless trek, they encounter strangers and human/zombies. Whether it’s an escaped prisoner, Dodge (Shamier Anderson), who to no one’s surprise turns out to be a nice guy, or a dazed pack of naked people, these encounters will put you to sleep.
They are usually familiar, but when they aren’t, they go unexplained beyond “Crazy people be crazy.”
Sleep is a good thing inside and outside the movie. For the viewer, you are spared the rest of it. For a character who can catch Z’s, they could survive this extinction event. Matilda has this rare trait.
The dilemma for her mom is that Matilda could save the human race. If a government lab – led by Dr. Murphy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) – can figure out what makes the girl different, it could develop a cure. Should Jill trust the government or not?
Woke, but tired
Writers Mark (who also directs) and Joseph Raso stick to their anti-government position, but in talky, tame and bland fashion. Jill, an Army reservist, knows the U.S. military tortures war prisoners with sleep deprivation.
Admittedly, it’s nice to see a film acknowledge the horrors done by the modern military. But more of the film is sci-fi.
At the lab, we see a chimpanzee whose brain is exposed, and it’s implied that Matilda will die on an experiment table. Somehow this isn’t suspenseful, though. Greenblatt does what she can to act scared, but I didn’t for a minute believe a little girl would get sliced and diced.
While “Awake” doesn’t have a pro-authoritarian message by any means, what actually happens is that all the soldiers and scientists go crazy from lack of sleep. Even if they were all well-meaning, the result would be the same. So the film’s statement gets muddled.
“Awake” is an awkward mix of blunt wokeness and offensive stereotypes. A pastor (Barry Pepper) literally tells his congregation that this mass affliction is God’s way of making people “woke.”
Later, Jill tells Matilda to hide if strangers come by, “especially men.” “Awake” then does nothing to counter Jill’s sexism, thus leaving the film’s primary statement as “Fear everyone in a zombie apocalypse – but especially men. That’s the gender you really have to watch out for. Women zombies, they might be OK.”
Great performance in a bad film
It should be said that Rodriguez gives one of the best performances in a bad film you’ll ever see. She expertly portrays Jill’s desperation, confusion and tiredness. If she knows she’s in a garbage Netflix movie, she shows no indication.
Kudos also go to the casting director, as Jill, Noah and Matilda look like close relations.
Some individual scenes are good in the abstract, but they don’t leave an impression. Jill wants to teach Matilda survival skills such as how to use a gun and how to siphon gas. There’s just not enough time. She can’t turn her daughter into a survivalist in a matter of days.
This is part of the point, but it makes for a frustrating viewing experience when the trio has nothing fall in their favor. The events of “Awake” are a nightmare for them. For viewers, at least it ends.