Awoken (Short)
Writer-director Casey Chan’s short film “Awoken” is rough around the edges when it comes to technique and performance, but has a compelling story of love at its core. The human drama at the center of the film is reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain,” which was also about a doctor whose personal tragedy fueled his passion to cure what others consider incurable. Here, we have Dr. Owin Drokes (Aaron Mathias), a neurologist whose girlfriend Karin (Alex Odell) is in a coma after a car accident. A year later, Owin is continuing work in trying to find a way to revive her. But even when he appears to have had a breakthrough in his research, his funding has been cut. That’s when he meets Dr. Albert Kaine (Edward Sheldon), an older man whose story mirrors his own; together, maybe they can save Karin and break new ground medically.
As I said, the film is rough around the edges. The tone of performance and the story itself is very melodramatic, not helped by Chan’s visual touches or the music he composes for the film. But Chan’s passion for the story is undeniable, and to say it doesn’t go where you expect is a mild understatement. The film’s central question is, “What would you do for love?” I’m not sure that Owin’s path is one I would choose, but it’s difficult to question his love. Chan doesn’t; neither should we.
