Awake

Disaster movies are probably the closest type of film to being a "guilty pleasure" of mine. I strongly defend that every single genre has phenomenal and awful movies, all of which should be seen by audiences. Often, people ignore "bad films" as if they're not necessary, but without them, cinephiles wouldn't be able to truly appreciate when a gem comes around. Awake is neither, but it does feature an original idea that could have been much better explored. Gina Rodriguez (Kajillionaire) is quite good as the worrying mother, but performances can only carry the movie until a certain point. Joseph Raso and Mark Raso's screenplay isn't able to develop a unique "end-of-the-world" concept in a surprising, captivating manner, following the generic plot points and predictable outcomes. Despite the short runtime, it still holds some pacing issues that unnecessarily drag the film. As with every other flick of this genre, questionable actions and events must be blindly accepted by the audience to avoid nitpicking logical issues. It's still somewhat entertaining due to the genre itself, but it all feels underwhelming compared to the genuinely interesting premise. Rating: C-