Awake

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mark Raso directs. Alan Poon behind the camera. Antonio Pinto scores. Michele Conroy cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Canada, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 5 years ago.
• 2International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.
• 3Directed by Mark Raso, shot by Alan Poon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Antonio Pinto. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Michele Conroy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Gina Rodriguez and Ariana Greenblatt and Lucius Hoyos carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Disorientation. Hallucinations. Hysteria. Sleep is survival.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt10418662 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Alan Poon

Original score

Antonio Pinto

Editing

Michele Conroy

Production design

Andrew M. Stearn

Costume design

Michelle Lyte

Makeup / hair

Silvia Platsis

Runtime

96 min · 1h 36m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Awake (2021) ↗

Also by

Mark Raso

• 
  Kodachrome

  2017 · ★ 6.8
• 
  Copenhagen

  2014 · ★ 6.6
• 
  Under

  2011
• 
  The Ugly Chickens

  2024

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Kamurai2021-06-19
  ★ 7/10

  Really good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. This is no "Day 5" (A Rooster Teeth series where people who fall asleep never wake again). This is more like a twisted opposite of that, but still interesting. Watching characters slowly go insane has a certain level of appeal to it when it comes to stories. It's an onboard clock to how far the story can be pushed. The cast does a great job of leaning into the characters and their situations, the story itself is decent, but does lean quite a bit on the concept alone. The movie distracts from it's main plot from being about a mom and her two kids, this creates dependencies that wouldn't usually exist in apocalyptic survivor groups. It allows for some predictability as well as limiting in what is sensible for the characters to do. The movie compensates well enough and the bigger problem, to me is the "special child" trope it uses. Definitely worth a watch, and refreshing to see a somewhat innovative idea come along.

  Read full review ↓
• Manuel São Bento2021-07-15
  ★ 4/10

  Disaster movies are probably the closest type of film to being a "guilty pleasure" of mine. I strongly defend that every single genre has phenomenal and awful movies, all of which should be seen by audiences. Often, people ignore "bad films" as if they're not necessary, but without them, cinephiles wouldn't be able to truly appreciate when a gem comes around. Awake is neither, but it does feature an original idea that could have been much better explored. Gina Rodriguez (Kajillionaire) is quite good as the worrying mother, but performances can only carry the movie until a certain point. Joseph Raso and Mark Raso's screenplay isn't able to develop a unique "end-of-the-world" concept in a surprising, captivating manner, following the generic plot points and predictable outcomes. Despite the short runtime, it still holds some pacing issues that unnecessarily drag the film. As with every other flick of this genre, questionable actions and events must be blindly accepted by the audience to avoid nitpicking logical issues. It's still somewhat entertaining due to the genre itself, but it all feels underwhelming compared to the genuinely interesting premise. Rating: C-

  Read full review ↓
• Steveb292021-10-01
  ★ 1/10

  I have always thought of myself to be imaginative in every sense of the word, but to be perfectly honest, I didn't see anything worth watching in this movie. I think the writer(s) have a deep level of darkness that they harbor in order to put such a movie to script. Bottom line, this movie was all about fear and darkness, a concept that the world needs less of in these troubled times.⭐

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Entertainment One

  CA

• PA

  Paul Schiff Productions

  US

Key crew

• Sound MixerGlen Gauthier
• Makeup & HairSilvia Platsis
• Costume DesignMichelle Lyte
• Key Makeup ArtistAlastair Muir
• EditorMichele Conroy
• Production DesignAndrew M. Stearn
• CastingRich Delia
• Makeup ArtistSilvia Platsis
• Set DecorationNigel Hutchins
• Makeup Department HeadJulia Valente
• Makeup ArtistAlastair Muir
• Art DirectionJames Oswald
• StuntsStephannie Hawkins
• Executive ProducerLaurel Thomson
• StuntsAmy Szoke
• ProducerMark Gordon
• ProducerJosh Clay Phillips
• ProducerMatt Jackson
• ProducerGregory Poirier
• ProducerPaul Schiff
• StuntsDanny Lima
• First Assistant CameraJackson Yeung
• Music EditorMaximilian Rubell

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• end of the world
• apocalypse
• sleep deprivation

Release history · US

When it landed

• Digital2021-06-09R· Netflix

Also known as

International titles

• 无眠觉醒CN
• 觉醒CN
• OyaqAZ