AWAKENINGS

AWAKENINGS is a thoughtful, engrossing true-life drama about people whose dignity remains intact even when illness has taken away their ability to speak or move. Robert De Niro and Robin Williams give strong performances as Leonard Lowe, a patient awakening after decades in a catatonic state, and the doctor who believes he is still conscious inside.

The film finds joy in ordinary gifts: conversation, friendship, family, work, and the chance to experience life. It also becomes deeply sad as the medical breakthrough proves temporary. The movie upholds the dignity of human existence, but its humanistic outlook never acknowledges God or a sovereign purpose above the patients’ circumstances.

For mature middle schoolers and older viewers, AWAKENINGS is worth seeing with a conversation about its sadness, worldview, and brief content concerns.

In a Bronx hospital in 1969, neurologist Malcolm Sayer is placed in charge of ten patients who have lived for decades in trance-like catatonic states. Although the staff has given up on them, Sayer notices signs that they may still be conscious.

He begins studying an experimental drug used for Parkinson’s disease and receives permission to try it on Leonard Lowe, who has been unable to speak or move for 30 years. Leonard’s return to ordinary life opens a new chapter for both patient and doctor.

Three stars means this is a very good, emotionally absorbing film with some limitations. Penny Marshall handles the sensitive story with fine execution, while the performances by Robert De Niro and Robin Williams are the movie’s chief strengths.

The film is thought-provoking and engrossing, especially in its attention to the patients’ renewed joy and the friendship developing between Leonard and his doctor. Its sadness is substantial, and its refusal to offer a clear answer about whether the experience was worthwhile may leave viewers searching for their own conclusions.

AWAKENINGS exalts the dignity of human existence, the invincibility of the human psyche, joy in life, and gratitude for what people often take for granted. It also presents friendship, family, and work as the things that ultimately matter. The patients are treated sympathetically, and the film insists that people remain valuable even when illness severely limits their abilities.

The film’s central weakness is its silence about God. It does not mention the Almighty or a sovereign God who works above and beyond human circumstances. A mother’s question about why her child became ill is left within a humanistic frame rather than answered by faith in God’s purposes. The Ouija board is used as a clinical tool, not as a medium for communicating with spirits, but its presence remains a worldview concern.

The film’s longing is for joy, connection, and grateful attention to life’s ordinary gifts. Scripture likewise calls us to receive each day with gratitude: “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

AWAKENINGS is a sensitive, well-acted drama that honors human dignity and awakens gratitude for ordinary life. Its sadness and lack of reference to God call for thoughtful discussion, but its one obscenity and clinical use of a Ouija board fit a discernment-level rating. For mature middle schoolers and older viewers, WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 13 AND UP.