Awake

Writer/director Joby Harold’s debut feature, AWAKE, is an unsettling thriller that highlights a deeply troubling medical problem. "Anesthetic awareness" is a rare but dangerously prevalent condition that affects nearly 30,000 individuals a year, in which patients who have been put under anesthesia before surgery remain paralyzed while still being aware of their present situation. AWAKE tells the story of Clayton Beresford Jr. (Hayden Christensen), a successful young businessman who lives under the roof of his overbearing mother, Lilith (Lena Olin). Afraid to expose his engagement to Lilith’s beautiful assistant, Sam Lockwood (Jessica Alba), Clayton decides to do so when he realizes that, thanks to a rare heart condition, he might not live much longer. His best friend and personal surgeon, Jack Harper (Terrence Howard), supports his decision to take the plunge, and also advises him to get a much-needed heart transplant as soon as a donor is found. After he marries Sam, a donor arrives, but when Clayton is put under to receive the complicated surgery, he is shocked to discover that he’s still cognizant of everything that is happening to him. As he fights through the pain to hear the doctors’ voices, the more he learns about his best friend and his new wife, adding further trauma to an already horrendous situation. Featuring standout performances from the film’s principal cast (Christensen, Alba, Howard), as well as its supporting players (Olin, Fisher Stevens, Christopher McDonald), AWAKE is a tense journey through the mind of an innocent man who’s on the verge of losing his lease on life.

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I don’t usually watch thrillers. I don’t usually advertise them too. But this one was different. Somehow, this one got to me. At first i was grossed out by it [i have no constitution for horror/thriller/too much blood/anything with a mild boo!] but i ended up intrigued halfway through and got used to the other bloody bits. I’m not usually a sympathetic person, but oh i was frustrated for this person [and those who experience this horrifying thing] who being awake during the whole procedure and feeling everything, paralysed and not being able to do NUTS about it. I never knew about this "anesthetic awareness" until now and mind you, i certainly will be more cautious before signing myself over to anything.

There were some irritating bits though: the dvd i have sort of repeats a certain part in the middle of the movie so i was watching the same part, twice, but not daring to fast forward in case it was part of the movie. 5 minutes of my life, wasted. Haha. And things like leaving out the reason why he needs a transplant in the first place, they only mention he’s got a rare blood type. It just doesn’t help the movie along… And they never mentioned why *okay, CENSORED. I’m spoiling the story. 

Watch it, you might like it, you might not, but that’s your prerogative =)