A tender portrait of a troubling issue
Unfortunately there has been a recent wave of films and TV shows about the U.S. prescription drug and opioid epidemic. Not unfortunate in the sense of artistic merit achieved (I’m NOT looking at you, Hillbilly Elegy), but unfortunate that there exists a crisis of this magnitude in the first place. Millions of people are affected by drug addiction each day, and the opioid crisis has already taken countless lives. The new indie film Stay Awake shines its own match light on the disease with great care and an intimate focus. In this film we don’t have villains (well, maybe the enabling doctor and drug co.), cringeworthy child abuse, or the stereotypical yet often truthful standards set forward by the depiction of drug addicts in Hollywood. Rather, Stay Awake shows that sometimes addiction and family issues lay just beneath the surface of small town normalcy and kind, functional people, and that caretakers deserve some of the spotlight.
Directed by Emmy-nominated Jamie Sisley, Stay Awake is a semi-autobiographical story of two teenage brothers, Ethan (Wyatt Oleff) and Derek (Fin Argus), struggling to balance looking after their prescription drug addicted mother, Michelle (Chrissy Metz), against their dreams of leaving their small Virginia town. The story mainly progresses from the perspective of the brothers. Their constant role-switching, from responsible caretaker to frustrated sufferer, is key to their relationship, as they look after each other in more subtle and comforting ways than often depicted on screen. There’s no blame game shouting match, or accusatory confrontation. Their bond is stronger than that, their understanding of each other more nuanced, and this is all the more heartbreaking when we watch how accustomed they are to going through the motions of retrieving their overdosed mother, keeping her awake on the way to the hospital, and repeating the rigamarole of finding and paying for her numerous rehab stints.
Chrissy Metz (who has been Emmy Award, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominated – and won – for her work in This Is Us) is mesmerizing as Michelle. In what amounts to a supporting role, she emits affecting vulnerability and charm, as resounding in the scenes she’s center frame as the ones in which she’s absent. In this way, the disease isn’t represented solely through victimhood or villainy, but a culmination of unfortunate circumstances and decisions. As Sisley puts it, he hoped “people will empathize with Michelle instead of demonize her.” Wyatt (IT) and Fin (Clouds) tackle the ups and downs of dramatic and humorous sequences with ease. Their screen presence is as welcome in sterile hospital scenes as are running jokes about English majors in the car (I took those personally). It’s difficult not to believe them as brothers, together battling everything their community, their friends, and irreverent corporations throw at them.
Great as the actors are, credit is equally due to Sisley’s simple direction and concise screenplay. Based on Sisley’s short film of the same name, Stay Awake is interested and enamored with Americana. Sisley has focused on simple truths rather than dramatic embellishments, setting the story amid a charming small town and filling it with recognizable characters. A running joke with a repeated cab driver captures the essence of the story’s small scope and stakes. At the heart of Stay Awake is the story of caretakers, or those family members and friends of addicts that feel the brunt of responsibility. It’s nothing we haven’t seen in films before to various degrees, but here feels extra personal, real, and even hopeful.
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Stay Awake had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Feb 12th.
