''Dead Awake'' (also released as ''Dead of the Night'') is a 2001 Canadian-American

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

made for television, directed by co-producer Marc S. Grenier and starring

Stephen Baldwin Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films '' Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), '' Posse'' (1993), '' 8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' ...

Macha Grenon Macha Grenon (born June 7, 1968) is a Canadian film and television actress.Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters. E ...

Synopsis

Marketing executive Desmond Caine (

) is stricken with a bizarre form of

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

, spending his nights walking the city's dangerous streets at night. Caine ends up at a local

deli Deli may refer to: * Delicatessen, a shop selling specially prepared food, or food prepared by such a shop * Sultanate of Deli, a former sultanate in North Sumatra, Indonesia Places * Deli, Boyer-Ahmad, a village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Pro ...

where he encounters some unusual characters: a nice, if bit lost, young woman (

Macha Grenon Macha Grenon (born June 7, 1968) is a Canadian film and television actress.homeless (

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters. E ...

), and an anti-social policeman. During one of his half-

hallucinogenic Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

journeys, Caine witnesses a brutal murder. He finds the victim's watch and goes to the police. Returning to the scene, there is no sign of the crime. Stranger still, Caine's girlfriend (

Maxim Roy Maxim Roy (born March 7, 1972) is a French-Canadian actress. In English, she is best known for playing Detective Isabelle Latendresse in the English version of the Canadian police drama television series '' 19-2'', Jocelyn Fray in the fantasy se ...

) is completely unaware that he gets up at night and wanders the city, while his personal assistant ( Janet Kidder) seems to know all about his

exploit Exploit means to take advantage of something (a person, situation, etc.) for one's own end, especially unethically or unjustifiably. Exploit can mean: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploit (computer security) * Video game exploit *Exploitat ...

s. The police discover that the murdered man was connected to Caine's girlfriend; no longer only a witness, he is now the

prime suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

...

Michael Ironside December 2009 (cropped)

Cast

Genre

In July 2000, ''Dead Awake'' was described as "a thriller with a dark twist of comedy".

Production

Background

Locomotion Films, part of the Montreal Exponent Group, comprising commercial houses La Fabrique d'Images and S.W.A.T Films, and

post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

and

digital effects Digital Effects Inc. was an early and innovative computer animation studio at 321 West 44th street in New York City. It was the first computer graphics house in New York City when it opened in 1978, and operated until 1986. It was founded by Ju ...

house Buzz Image Group, was officially launched in 1999 with a view to developing English- and French-track feature films, television series, and dramatic

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

. Director and co-producer Marc S. Grenier said he and his colleagues were ready "to do something entirely serious", moving into fiction after working many years in commercials (Grenier directed the 1999 Cinequest Films entry ''Cause of Death'', and the 1998 Motion International

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

''Fatal Affair''). ''Dead Awake'' was

made for television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

, and was Locomotion's second feature production for the year 2000 with a budget of $4.2 million.

Writing

The screenplay was written by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-based Terry Abrahamson. Two working titles for the film were ''Wild Awake'' and ''Dead of Night''.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

took place over twenty days in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, June 9 to July 6, 2000, under the working title ''Dead of Night''. Grenier said that cinematographer David Franco used a lot of interesting

wide angle Wide angle may refer to: * Wide-angle lens, type of camera lens * ''Wide Angle'' (TV series), television series * ''Wide Angle'', 1999 album by Hybrid * ''Wide Angles'', 2003 album by Michael Brecker * Wide-angle X-ray scattering In X-ray crystal ...

shots, giving the film "an unusual and edgy look." Grenier elaborated: "The whole movie is like a maze. You know there's an exit but it seems unreachable and everything just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

Release and reception

''Dead Awake'' was first broadcast on November 6, 2001.

Distribution

In July 2000, it was announced that ''Dead Awake'' would be distributed by

Lions Gate Films Lionsgate Films (formerly known as Cinépix Film Properties) is an American film production and film distribution studio, headquartered in Santa Monica and founded in Canada, and is the flagship division of Lionsgate Entertainment. It is the lar ...

in Canada, by Millennium Pictures in the United States and by Martien Holding internationally.

Home media

''Dead Awake'' was released on VHS (Millennium) and DVD (First Look Home Entertainment) in 2002.

Streaming

The film is currently available on Amazon Prime.

Critical response

The author of ''Critic Online'' calls ''Dead Awake'' one of the better Canadian thrillers of the early 2000s because of its interesting characters, and one of Stephen Baldwin's best films, because "it incorporates his morose acting style into the script." ''The Great Canadian Movie Guide'' assigns the film 3 stars, praising the unconventional performances and imaginative story. Johnny Betts was "surprised" to find that ''Dead Awake'' "is actually a decent little movie" with "a plot and doesn't rely on women taking off their clothes every two minutes (a staple in most straight-to-video movies)." Betts also praised the "mix of plot twists, dark humor, and weirdness."

References

External links

Official trailer
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, dead_awake 2001 films 2001 psychological thriller films Canadian psychological thriller films English-language Canadian films American psychological thriller films Films shot in Montreal Insomnia in film 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films