Awake (2007)
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A man undergoing heart surgery discovers a conspiracy to kill him while he remains conscious but paralyzed.
The story
Young billionaire Clay Beresford, Jr. is in love with Samantha "Sam" Lockwood, his mother's personal assistant. Clay requires a heart transplant to be conducted by Dr. Jack Harper, Clay's heart surgeon and friend. Before the operation, Clay and Sam marry in a private ceremony. During the surgery, Clay experiences anesthesia awareness, a rare condition where he remains conscious but paralyzed. While enduring the surgical pain, he tries to distract himself with memories. However, he soon discovers that his surgical team is colluding to murder him to cover up medical malpractice and secure a life insurance payout.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Young billionaire Clay Beresford, Jr. is in love with Samantha "Sam" Lockwood, his mother's personal assistant. Before undergoing a heart transplant performed by his friend Dr. Jack Harper, Clay and Sam marry in a private ceremony. During the surgery, Clay experiences anesthesia awareness, remaining conscious but paralyzed. He discovers that Jack and his team are conspiring to kill him to cover up malpractice debts by sabotaging his transplant with a poisoned heart. Clay experiences an out-of-body state and realizes Sam is involved in the plot. When the sabotaged heart fails, Lilith (Clay's mother) realizes the foul play and commits suicide, providing a viable heart for Clay. A new team led by Dr. Neyer takes over. In a spiritual realm, Clay's consciousness meets Lilith's spirit. She forces him to revisit a childhood memory of her killing his abusive father. This revelation allows Clay to let go and accept the new heart. He awakens in the operating room as the surgeons remove his eye tapes.
- First release year
- 2007
- Runtime (minutes)
- 84
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Japanese
- Directors
- Joby Harold
- Writers
- Joby Harold · writer
- Cast and characters
- Hayden Christensen · Clay Beresford, Jr.; Jessica Alba · Samantha "Sam" Lockwood-Tunnel; Terrence Howard · Dr. Jack Harper; Lena Olin · Lilith Beresford; Nathalie Efron · Mary Beresford; Fisher Stevens · Dr. Eugene Puttnam; Arliss Howard · Dr. Jonathan Neyer; Christopher McDonald · Dr. Larry Lupin
- Genres
- psychological thriller
- Themes
- Medical malpractice; Betrayal; Survival
- Tone and mood
- Ominous; Suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- Medical-themed; Conspiracy; Survival
- Content notes
- Medical malpractice
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics who criticized the performances, direction, and editing, though it performed moderately well at the box office.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 23% · scale: percentage · review count: 60; Metacritic · score: 33 · scale: 100 · review count: 17; CinemaScore · score: C+ · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Actress · Nomination; Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Screen Combo · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was criticized by a group of anesthesiologists for having 'science completely wrong'.; The film was produced on a budget of $8.6 million and grossed $32.7 million.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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