Stars: Hayden Christensen, Lena Olin, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard

Director: Joby Harold

Summary: A man lies awake during heart surgery after reacting badly to his anaesthetic, causing his wife to make some crucial decisions.

Writer/director Joby Harold's debut feature, AWAKE, is an unsettling thriller that highlights a deeply troubling medical problem. 'nesthetic 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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Now here’s an intriguing premise for a horror-thriller. What if you were entirely aware of what was happening mid-operation, when you were supposed to be under anaesthetic? That’s just what happens to Hayden Christensen in Awake, a tidy, intriguing little film that makes a few interesting choices as its storyline evolves.

Christensen plays Clay Beresford, born into a rich family and dating a woman that he hides from his mother. He also is in need of heart surgery, and as he heads in for his operation, he gradually seems to be tying his life together. But there’s more to Awake than that, and writer-director Joby Harold’s screenplay throws in a couple of fairly obvious rug-pulls, although it’s still decent fun spotting them nonetheless.

What’s surprising about Awake is that it’s less interested in its central concept than perhaps it should be. It also hinges a too-challenging role on the shoulders of Jessica Alba, although supporting players such as Terence Howard, Lena Olin and Fisher Stevens do carry some of the weight.

With a concise and to-the-point sub-90 minute running time, Awake knows not to outstay its welcome, and generally delivers an entertaining, if ultimately shallow night in front of the box. There was, however, potential here for a more interesting movie than the one we got. --Jon Foster

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio commentary with writer/director Joby Harold, Making of, Storyboard to film comparison, Bloopers, Deleted scenes with additional commentary
Year:	2006
Release Date:	August 25, 2008
Runtime:	82 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	I C O N 10144
Keywords:	English, General, Awake, Drama
Genre:	Drama