We’re not even halfway through 2021 yet, but it’s already set to go down in the history books as the greatest year ever for Netflix‘s lineup of original sci-fi movies.
So far, we’ve seen Anthony Mackie’s Outside the Wire draw in a huge 66 million streams and South Korean space opera Space Sweepers generate a solid 26 million, while Army of the Dead technically fits in the genre given the presence of unexplainable robot zombies and a potential time loop, not to mention the claustrophobic nailbiter Oxygen and character-driven survival thriller Stowaway, all of which performed very well on the Top 10 most-watched list.
The latest to reach the summit of the viewership charts is Awake, which hails from filmmaker Mark Raso and stars Gina Rodriguez in the lead role. The plot follows a world descending into hysteria after a mystery event wipes out all electronics and removes the human race’s ability to sleep, with scientists rushing to develop a cure for global insomnia before the effects wipe out life as we know it.
Rodriguez’s former solider Jill finds out that her daughter might be the key to a cure, but she’s torn between protecting her children from a planet that’s fallen into disrepair or trying to save the world against the odds. It sounds like a decent enough setup, and there are some recognizable names on board including Iron Fist‘s Finn Jones, the always reliable Barry Pepper and Academy Award nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh, but the critical reactions haven’t been particularly enthusiastic.
At the time of writing, Awake holds a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes with a marginally higher audience rating of 35%, but that’s clearly not dissuaded subscribers from checking it out in their droves.
