Awake 2021

Former U.S. Army medic and recovering addict, Jill Adams works as a security guard at a local college, where she engages in unethical behavior by stealing drugs from the research lab to sell. After her difficult shift, she retrieves her children, Noah and Matilda, from their grandmother, Doris. However, their journey takes a tragic turn when their car loses power and collides with another vehicle, plunging them into a lake. While Matilda drowns, she is miraculously revived by a police officer amidst bizarre circumstances—everything that runs on electricity is suddenly experiencing malfunctions.

At the hospital, Jill and her family are introduced to the grim reality that patients in comas have awakened. Once they return home, an unsettling atmosphere pervades; Jill, Noah, and Doris find themselves unable to sleep. Noah claims to see shooting stars, which Jill dismisses as satellites. On her route to work, she notices that the entire neighborhood is strangely awake, raising concerns. This unsettling development prompts a visit from psychiatrist Dr. Murphy, who reveals that the general population suffers from an inability to fall asleep, which has dire consequences.

The only known exception is an elderly woman at a military facility called The Hub, which is currently under scrutiny for a possible cure. Jill recalls that Matilda is one of the few children who can still sleep, compelling her to rush home, fearing that authorities would take her daughter for experiments. Upon reaching her destination, she finds Matilda at a church where the pastor delivers a sermon proclaiming her a “beacon of hope.” The congregation, however, doesn’t want to relinquish her. In a chaotic turn, police intervention leads to panic, allowing Doris to help hide Matilda away. The family then makes a hasty retreat to the woods to seek refuge.

After a tense moment in a garage, Jill manages to hijack a car to escape, but as they navigate this perilous situation, an escaped prisoner, Dodge, unwittingly comes to their rescue. Discovering wreckage of a downed airplane ignites a shift in their mission; Jill teaches Matilda how to drive since she is the only one still alert enough. Their dangerous journey intensifies when they face hostile groups but manage to evade capture.

Upon reaching The Hub, Dodge volunteers to remain behind, but Jill prioritizes her children’s safety, giving him the car and insisting he leave. As she infiltrates the facility disguised as a lab worker, Jill finds the terminally ill woman who can sleep and begs for her to help Matilda. When confronted by Dr. Murphy, Jill inquires about a cure but is informed that the situation has escalated over five days with no solution found, only temporary measures that inflict neurological damage.

The military soon catches up with them, and in a desperate moment, Matilda confesses her ability to sleep. This revelation prompts a series of harrowing experiments conducted under the intense scrutiny of the doctors, attempting to discover what makes her unique. As distress unfolds—a moment where Jill faces delirium while restrained—the narrative deepens.

In an unfortunate twist, Noah suffers a tragic mishap while hallucinating, leading to a fateful attempt at resuscitation by Jill and Matilda. Eventually, Noah regains consciousness, expressing a newfound understanding of their mother’s love.

Realizing that their ability to sleep stems from their near-death experiences, Matilda and Noah enact a final plan, dunking Jill underwater to revive her. She awakens just as the screen closes in on her eye, leaving viewers in suspense as the credits roll.