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In this short psychological medical thriller, Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is scheduled to have a heart transplant just as soon as the hospital can locate a donor with type-O blood. Waiting by his side is his fiancée, Sam Lockwood (Jessica Alba), who wants Clay to stop hiding their engagement from his overprotective mother. Sam is ready to get married, and she feels that she deserves a happily ever after, too. She’s been there for Clay throughout his illness, and she plans to be there for him during his operation.
Dr. Jack Harper (Terrence Howard) has four malpractice suits pending against him, but Clay trusts no one else to do the operation. Still, Dr. Harper isn’t at all confident that Clay will come off his operating table alive.
Once Clay’s on the table, the anesthesia is administered, but something goes wrong. Clay can feel the burn of the razor as it shaves his chest; he can feel the coldness of the iodine being painted on from neck to stomach; and he can hear the doctors talking. Then he feels the cut of the scalpel. He can’t move or speak. They’ll remove his heart, and he’ll feel everything. But what’s worse, he overhears a plot to end his life. Clay’s nightmare begins—and it’s not only the operation that’ll cause him pain.
Are you cringing? If not, you surely will be when you watch Awake. The expression it hurts to watch this will take on a gruesome reality as the doctors spread Clay’s ribcage—breaking a rib in the process—to get to his heart. A horror movie doesn’t need a lot of blood and gore to be horrifying—and this movie definitely proves that.
Awake isn’t a lengthy movie (in fact, it’s barely 90 minutes long), nor is the plot especially deep, but it packs a healthy dose of surprises because it goes beyond anesthetic awareness. After about the third twist, though, it loses some of its shock value, and it becomes rather predictable. However, Awake, still held my attention while I held my breath, waiting to see if Clay would survive the operation. I so wanted him to make it after all he’d been through—and I knew I’d be extremely mad if he didn’t.
It may not be the best movie I’ve ever seen, but Awake is definitely worth your time. Be warned, though—I wouldn’t recommend watching it on the night before you’re scheduled for surgery.
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