The Canadian filmmaking team of Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell – popularly known as Roadkill Superstars (RKSS) jump out of their nostalgia-fueled narratives in “Turbo Kid” (2015) and “Summer of 84” (2018) for a more grounded and contemporary setting in “Wake Up.” Teenagers are still at the center of their tale, but the shift, which is aided by Alberto Marini’s pointless script, doesn’t lead to any concrete takeaway.
Powered by Arnau Bataller’s excellent score, “Wake Up” begins with a group of Gen-Z activists who identify themselves with the movie’s namesake, secretly sneaking into an IKEA-like store. Led by Ethan (Benny O. Arthur), they plan to hide in the store’s many blindspots and come out when all the employees, except the supposed unruly and lazy guards have left. Armed with spray paints and paint guns, the group’s objective is to graffiti the entire store, play some paintball on the premises, and record their message of being anti-everything the store stands for.
I can digest everything these kids are up to – including playing paintball in the dark and risking arrest just so they can get content for their social media virality. But the film is not about misguided activism, or even about saving the rainforest that these pseudo organizations just imply about saving, while slowly contributing to their deterioration. It is about these Gen-Z’s trying their hands at activism on a really bad day.
The setting of the film is timed with the mental breakdown of one of the guards on duty named Kevin (Turlough Convery). For reasons never explained, Kevin is a deeply disturbed individual who is forced to take the night shift with his brother Jack (Aidan O’Hare) after Kevin has a rift with his boss. Again, for reasons not explained beyond just serving the savagery of the film, Kevin is fond of primitive hunting and loves making makeshift weapons and traps.
Now, if you are still not aware of where this is leading, something truly terrible happens, trapping the kids in a cat-and-mouse game, with Kevin getting unhinged and psychopathic. The film, never again brings back its sequentially established idea of activism beyond some really sloppy metaphors about animalistic tendencies and survival against all odds. The back-and-forth between Kevin and the kids is never interesting enough for a viewer to be engaged because the film is not eager to explore anything beyond the slasher elements of the narrative.
This is extremely frustrating because some of the bits here – a few interesting kills and the idea of being trapped in an establishment that you are against – could all lead to an intense battle that would be a treat for genre fans. However, “Wake Up” is just a dull, cynical slasher that is entirely toothless and hollow. The way I see it, much of the reason for the banality could be attributed to these 6 teenage characters who despite having different names and ethnicities could be interchanged with one another and you would not even notice. Their personality is not fleshed out in a way that would make us care for any of them.
Among the group, there is the reluctant Karim (Thomas Gould), who is trying his best to fit in the group but since his motifs are laid bare in such a banal fashion, there’s no empathy that you develop for him. Additionally, Kevin, as a token villain does not work. Since the film lacks depth, we don’t feel bad for his tryst with mental health. Also, the absence of RKSS’ traditional sense of humor makes the cat-and-mouse game feel entirely pointless.
The film misses out on juicy ideas of misguided activism, or the capitalistic nature of everything coming back to bite back at those who exploit it or are exploited by it. To add to its many missteps is shooting most of the bloodshed and action in the absolute dark, making me wish there was a light bulb somewhere that would have made it more bearable.
