Movies about disasters have evolved quite a bit since their heyday twenty-five years ago. Since 1997’s volcanic one-two punch of “Dante’s Peak” and “Volcano” and 1998’s similar two-fister of “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon,” the genre has both expanded its scale and deepened its scope. “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” show the entire planet devastated by cataclysm. More speculative takes on the genre, like 2018’s “Annihilation,” explore natural and cultural mutation in a more challenging way.
Where will “Awake” fall on the global event movie spectrum? Netflix‘s latest sci-fi thriller takes place in a world brought to hysteria after a mysterious event renders all electronics useless and makes humanity unable to fall asleep. Those are high stakes for a mass-global event. Here’s the official synopsis:
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“After a sudden global event wipes out all electronics and takes away humankind’s ability to sleep, chaos quickly begins to consume the world. Only Jill, an ex-soldier with a troubled past, may hold the key to a cure in the form of her own daughter. The question is, can Jill safely deliver her daughter and save the world before she herself loses her mind.”
“Awake” stars Gina Rodriguez (“Kajillionaire“), Ariana Greenblatt (“Love & Monsters“), Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Annihilation“), and Barry Pepper (‘Trigger Point‘). Shamier Anderson (“Stowaway“), Finn Jones (“Game Of Thrones”), and Frances Fisher (HBO‘s “Watchmen“) also star.
Mark Raso directs the film, his first since 2017’s “Kodachrome,” which he also did for Netflix. Raso co-wrote the screenplay with his brother, Joseph Raso, with the story by Gregory Poirier (“National Treasure: Book Of Secrets“).
What kind of global crisis film will “Awake” be? A horror-thriller like Netflix’s “Bird Box” from a couple of years ago? A more militant take like “The Edge of Tomorrow“? A severe head-scratcher like M. Night Shyamalan’s disastrous “The Happening?” Audiences find out on June 9, when the film hits Netflix. Check out the trailer below.