"Awake" a sci-fi thriller that could put you to sleep
Awake (2021) “Awake” seems like Netflix’s bid to make another “Bird Box,” but one that might actually deserve the meme-ready derision. Global catastrophe, check. Strong maternal figure, check. Instead of using our sense of sight against us, what if we were all incapable of getting forty winks? Writer-director Mark Raso (2017’s “Kodachrome”) and co-writer Joseph Raso (Mark’s brother) do have an intriguing setup for their apocalyptic concept, except it’s not very thrilling and not at all provocative as a societal breakdown, like Fernando Meirelles’ grimly fascinating allegory “Blindness.” Armed with a few tense set-pieces, “Awake” is competent but not exactly a cure for insomnia. Military veteran Jill (Gina Rodriguez) is exhausted even before entering a world that can't sleep. She still struggles to keep her sober life on track, working as a security guard at a medical research facility and selling stolen pills for quick cash. Though she lost custody of her children—teenage Noah (Lu...