Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you a crime, drama, mystery film from 2007, titled
Awake. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care. Each year, over twenty-one million people receive
general anesthesia. The vast majority go to sleep peacefully, and they remember nothing.
Thirty thousand of these people, however, are not so fortunate. They find themselves unable to
sleep, trapped in a phenomenon known as anesthesia awareness. These victims are completely paralyzed
and cannot scream for help - they are awake. Clayton Beresford Junior is one of those people,
but his surgeon, Doctor Jack Harper, doesn't know this. He sits at his office, staring at a picture
of his medical team as he laments having lost his best friend Clayton on the operation table while
going through a heart transplant. Jack knows that no matter how much medicine advances, we cannot
control when people die, and he wonders if Clayton knew what would happen to him as he remembers how
it all started. Clayton is a young billionaire that took over his father's company after he
died and suffers from a heart condition that has put him on the waitlist for a heart transplant,
which may take a while because of his blood type. He is also dating Samantha "Sam" Lockwood,
his mother's personal assistant, but they're keeping their relationship secret because
his mom wouldn't approve. In the privacy of Sam's apartment, they are incredibly happy, but whenever
they must go out into the world, Sam is rather bothered by the frustration of having to hide.
One morning, Clayton spends an unusual amount of time underwater in the tub having morbid thoughts,
but Sam helps him bring his good mood back. They make love and have breakfast together at her
place, and before leaving their separated ways, Sam hurries to pick up her mail before he notices.
Clayton returns home to his mother, Lilith and has breakfast again with her before going to work.
During his lunch break, Clayton's doctor and close friend Jack takes him fishing, which makes
him feel a bit guilty when he thinks his father wouldn't approve - Clayton is afraid he'll never
fill his shoes. Afterward, he goes with Jack to the hospital he works at while telling him he's
finally gotten a ring and a marriage license, but he can't bring himself to propose to Sam
yet because Lilith still doesn't know about them and he's scared to tell her. Jack complains a bit
about his own life in return, telling Clayton all about rubbish malpractice lawsuits and the four
they have sued him for, which Clayton thinks it's a disgrace because he's only been trying to save
people's lives. Jack thinks people simply can't deal with the grief and need someone to blame,
he also thinks Clayton can't accept facts either, so he takes him to an operating
room and makes him lay down on the table so he can get used to the idea of what will happen to
him when he finally goes through the transplant. There's a chance he may die during the procedure,
and to drive the point home, he even describes the gruesome details. Jack thinks Clayton can't
risk it any longer, he should tell his mom about Sam and marry her before it's too late.
Jack allows Clayton to leave when Doctor Puttnam comes to pick him up for another operation.
Sam is waiting for him outside as they talk on the phone at the same time, but he ignores his
presence when his mother stops by in their car, not ready for her to see them together yet, which
frustrates Sam rather badly. In the car, Lilith has the company of Doctor Neyer, one of the most
important surgeons in the country. They're worried about Clayton and his decision of having Jack as
his doctor - he was the man on call when Clayton had his first attack and they became very close
since then, but friendship doesn't make up for skill. Neyer has operated on presidents while Jack
has four lawsuits under his name, but this doesn't matter to Clayton, who sticks to his decision.
Later that night, Clayton goes to a company party and manages to close a business deal with a very
important Japanese investor. Afterward, he has a drink and plays cards with his mother, who
makes him feel guilty when she says he can't hide anything from his mother. When Lilith is getting
ready for bed, she asks Clayton if he remembers his father Clayton Senior, who died on Christmas
when he was a little kid. Clayton mostly remembers the way he fell down the stairs while dressed as
Santa, and the only thing he can think of from when he was alive is that he smiled a lot. Their
talk is suddenly interrupted by Sam, who asks Lilith to sign some papers before she heads home.
Feeling guilty over the look she gives him, Clayton follows her outside, and Sam begins
ranting about all the hiding they've been doing and how she had to take off her engagement ring
for the party. Clayton apologizes to her and asks her to come back inside with him to finally tell
Lilith about them, who of course doesn't take it well. She thinks Sam has been nothing but a liar,
that only knowing each other for a year isn't enough to get married, and that Clayton is too
young to marry anyway. Disappointed, Clayton tells her he chooses Sam and leaves. Outside the house,
Clayton starts to feel unwell, so Sam takes his pills from her bag and makes him take one
as she apologizes for having made him choose. Clayton doesn't let her finish, instead he asks
her to marry him right now in the middle of the night, which he accepts. Jack pulls some favors
and gets them a minister that will marry them in such short notice and at such a crazy hour,
and that minister accepts to bring his wife as Sam's witness while Jack will be Clayton's.
The ceremony is short and sweet, and afterward, the couple goes back to Sam's place to make love.
Their little celebration is suddenly interrupted when Clayton receives a very important message:
a heart has finally been found for him. They rush to the hospital, where Jack introduces Sam to the
team that will be operating on Clayton, Doctor Puttnam, and nurse Penny Carver. Clayton also
learns that his mother is there, she was called because her name was on Clayton's call sheet.
Lilith has brought Doctor Neyer with her again, trying to convince Clayton to let him do the
surgery instead of some second-hand doctor. But after watching Jack and Neyer snark at each other,
Clayton still turns down the offer and leaves to get ready for the procedure while Sam waits in
the awkward company of Lilith, who refuses her help when she gives her a tip on how to make
the vending machine work. In the operating room, Jack and Puttnam are surprised to hear that their
usual anesthesiologist couldn't make it because he was sick, so instead they'll be working with
Doctor Larry Lupin. This worries Puttnam, but Jack assures him things will still be the same.
Lupin swiftly injects the anesthesia into Clayton's body, and he slowly goes under, closing
his eyes and thinking of Sam. His happy thoughts are interrupted when he notices he can still hear
the doctors talking and touching his chest - he's suffering from anesthesia awareness. He
wants to warn the doctors of this, but he can't: it's only his mind that is awake, not his body.
This means that when the procedure finally begins, Clayton feels all the excruciating pain from
being cut open. He tries to distract himself by thinking of Sam and all their moments together,
but suddenly his memories change to the night his father died, his burial, returning to school,
taking over the company, and meeting Jack when he had his first attack.
The doctors accidentally break one of Clayton's ribs when opening his chest, but at least they're
inside now, so the worst of the pain is over. Clayton continues to think about the day he
met Jack, how he invited him to his office after the operation because allegedly he likes to do a
follow-up with patients he saved. Those memories are followed by Sam being hired by his mother and
how they got to know each other better, this helps him ignore the doctors' talk. Meanwhile,
in the waiting room, Sam and Lilith are awkwardly sitting away from each other while waiting.
A doctor comes by and tries to hit on Sam, saying he's seen her around before, but she
cuts him off by showing him her wedding ring. This is the way Lilith learns about the wedding,
causing her to get even angrier. A moment later, Sam accidentally drops her bag on the ground and
a bunch of pill bottles rolls out of it. She explains to Lilith that they're all Clayton's,
and he likes her carrying them around so she can stop him from eating them like candy,
which could cause him to OD. She also asks to please approve of them because Clayton can't
lose another parent, and Lilith finally gives in, telling Sam to take care of him as she hugs her.
Back in the operating room, Clayton continues to think about Sam while the new heart arrives.
Jack and Puttnam tell Lupin to take a break since he won't be needed for a while, and as soon as he
leaves, Jack confesses he's extremely worried because he thinks Lupin has been sent to spy on
them and there's a chance someone learned they've been pushing Clayton down on the donor list.
After sending Penny to keep an eye on Lupin and try to find out what happened to their
usual anesthesiologist, Puttnam asks Jack to stop being paranoid and follow their plan:
he must poison the heart by injecting doxorubicin in it to trigger rejection and kill Clayton.
Shocked by this betrayal, Clayton stands up from the operating table and disconnects his body from
the bypass, but it's just an illusion: his body is still on the table, and it is his spirit that got
separated - Clayton is now having an out-of-body experience. He starts thinking about all his time
together with Jack and all the clues he should've seen before, like Jack always complaining about
all the lawsuits from patients and their strong reaction to having a new anesthesiologist.
In the waiting room, Sam tells Lilith she'll try to find out what's going on,
since nobody has come to bring them any news yet. She asks a random doctor about
it and is overheard by Lupin, who cuts in and tells her everything is fine.
Sam is shocked to see this unknown man, especially when she notices the flask in his pocket. She
points out Lupin isn't a regular worker from this hospital before rushing out of the room, taking
advantage of Penny being distracted to enter the operating room and demand an explanation.
Puttnam tries to convince her everything is fine as Clayton's spirit begs her not to trust him,
but things get strange when Sam asks for the usual anesthesiologist by name and gets angry when Penny
says he backed out from their plan. It turns out Sam is part of the scheme as well, and she only
married him so she could get his money, divide it among the medical team and pay off all the
lawsuits. This is why a heart coincidentally appeared for him right after the wedding.
Sam used to work as a nurse in Jack's team, and she changed her name when the plan began.
Jack is having doubts, even if this was his idea in the first place. He thinks he'd rather be poor
than go to jail, but Sam scolds him and kicks him back into action. Clayton remembers his talks with
his mother and realizes she was right before the excruciating pain starts again as his heart is
removed from his body. Jack grabs the new heart and is about to put it in without poisoning it,
but Sam cuts in and grabs the syringe herself before putting it on Jack's hand as she points out
he started it all this and dragged his team with him, so he must also finish it. She doesn't leave
the operating room until she's sure everything is according to plan, and once she sees the injection
is in, she goes back to Lilith and tells her she has no news. Lilith can sense something is wrong,
but Sam calms her down by telling her Clayton won't die because he has too much to live for.
After seeing the love of the life leaving so coldly, Clayton's real eye expells a tear.
When Lupin comes back, Clayton's spirit tries to make him notice to no avail.
The doctors pretend to be surprised in front of Lupin when the new heart suddenly fails,
and they try to restart it by using defibrillator paddles and a shot of adrenaline,
but nothing happens: Clayton is now dead. Jack and Lupin go to tell the news to the family,
but Jack quickly leaves after Lilith blames him for what happened. Lupin asks her for
permission to turn off the bypass, which is technically keeping his body alive.
The blood is being pumped by a machine, he has no heart and they can't find a new one with such rare
blood type on such short notice. Hearing this upsets Lilith even more and asks for a moment
to be alone with her thoughts. Clayton's spirit is currently on an illusion version of his house,
and he sees his mother arrive at the same time Lupin finds Lilith dead in the cafeteria. She
has ODed herself on purpose to give her heart to her son, since they both have the same blood type.
Doctor Neyer also arrives and gets ready to do the surgery himself, advising Jack and his team to
run because the police is coming - he even knows they poisoned the heart. As the procedure begins,
Lilith's spirit tells Clayton how she figured it out: Sam forgot her purse and while looking for
her son's medicine, Lilith found Sam's mail with her real name and the logo of a medical school,
this made her remember little details like that one doctor thinking he had seen her around the
hospital before, Sam knowing the tricks behind the vending machine and that Lupin didn't work there.
She didn't have time to warn anyone since Clayton was dying, so she did what she had to do,
and her plan is a success: Neyer transplants the heart with no issue and Clayton lives again.
Meanwhile, Puttnam and Penny try to leave, but Lupin sees them and warns the police,
who immediately captures them. Jack is hiding in his office and tries to get Sam to hide with him,
but she points out the police won't look for her because she wasn't part of the team during the
operation and leaves the room. Not willing to let her get away with it, Jack goes to the door and
locks it before showing her that he still has the syringe she touched, so now she is incriminated
as well. As Doctor Neyer closes Clayton's chest, his heart suddenly fails - his spirit wants to
stay with his mother because he isn't as strong as his father. To convince him he needs to go back,
Lilith forces him to remember what truly happened that night years ago:
his dad was an abusive addict that always hit Lilith. When he tried to do the same to Clayton,
Lilith stabbed him with a fireplace poker, causing him to fall down the stairs. She let Clayton
block the memory because she thought that would protect him from the pain, but she now realizes
it only made things worse and she should've told him she never wanted Clayton to be like him,
she wants him to be better and has always been proud of him. Coming to terms with this
and finally finding closure, Clayton comes back to the world of the living as the doctors restart his
heart with a defibrillator. Now we're back at the beginning of the story, with Jack in his office
thinking about what he did to Clayton. The police come to arrest him after they captured Sam at the
stairs, but Jack is at ease: he thinks the only thing that matters now is that Clayton is awake.