Coming in June is Awake, a post-apocalyptic tale with simple ideas at the root of a strong story

Arriving on June 9, Awake is set at the end of the world, and while the apocalypse is hardly new territory, this film looks (from the trailer) to impress. Not to be confused with the Jason Isaacs television series of the same name, this film has an easy to summarise plot:

Chaos ensues after a global event wipes out all electronics and takes away humankind’s ability to sleep. But Jill (Gina Rodriguez), an ex-soldier with a troubled past, may hold the key to a cure in the form of her own daughter. But she has to fight to save her family as both society and her mind spiral into chaos…

The trailer is direct. Suddenly all electronics fail. In the moments the viewer has to start to consider this idea, we begin to see what this means. Car radios, phones, computers, mobile networks, in car computer systems, hospital systems, power grids — they all stop. If this weren’t apocalypse enough, there’s a second problem — we all stop sleeping. While this might be seen as a benefit in a world with 24-streaming and the web, we soon realise our minds are designed to sleep. As we move through insomnia there’s a sequence of delusions, anger, hallucination and physical deterioration. If we don’t sleep… we die!

It’s classic science fiction writ large. Some of the most striking examples of the genre are series such as Survivors and novels such as Day of the Triffids; it’s hard not to place oneself in the story and wonder what if? On June 9 Awake arrives on Netflix — you can find out then. Until June, do take a look at the trailer.