A Wake (2019)

A Wake

• Even though this film deals with deep themes such as loss, grief, religion, and love, it was very awkward to get through and it was just messy. I hadn’t even heard of it until I saw it in passing while scrolling through Tubi recently, so it was a bit of an impulse watch. The first and third act were a bit slow and didn’t feel like there was much substance. The second act was decent, mostly because of the family drama. But the writing was poor and didn't really focus on the spots that it needed to. The themes I mentioned in the first sentence definitely play a huge part in the narrative, however, each one felt very glazed over. In a way, there is a deep dive, it’s just that it feels like every other film that has those themes. Either way, it was a bit discombobulated and janky. The sound editing and film editing were also not very great. A bit disjointed. All the characters were insufferable, other than Jameson and the twins. I wanted to throw each person into the sun. However, the performances from Noah Urrea and Heated Rivalry’s Kolton Stewart were pretty great, and between the two of them, they completely carry the film. Unfortunately, the film still doesn’t get too far off the ground. That’s about all I can say. From an overall perspective, it’s honestly not that horrible, it’s just not good. There’s ups and downs, and I was certainly invested in the story. But you’re certainly not missing anything if you skip out on this one.