Awake (2021) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Matilda is one of the few children who can still sleep, which makes her extremely valuable to the military and scientists searching for a cure. The film reveals that the ability to sleep is connected to near-death experiences, Matilda nearly drowned in the lake crash, and this trauma somehow granted her the ability to sleep when the rest of humanity lost it. This is why the military at The Hub wants to study her and why the family fears she'll be taken for experiments.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, the family notices Matilda is unusually calm and rested while everyone else suffers from exhaustion.

• matilda
• sleep ability
• insomnia
• near-death
• cure

The exact cause of the global insomnia is never explicitly explained in the film. The movie establishes that everyone except Matilda and a few others have lost the ability to sleep, leading to societal collapse. Dr. Murphy explains that after five days without sleep, people suffer severe neurological damage. The only known exceptions are Matilda and an elderly woman at The Hub, both of whom have experienced near-death situations.

• insomnia
• global sleep loss
• cause
• society collapse

The car crash occurs because all electrical systems malfunction simultaneously as part of the mysterious event that triggers the global insomnia. As the family drives home from their grandmother's house, the car loses power and crashes into a lake. This same electrical phenomenon affects everything worldwide, marking the beginning of the apocalypse when everyone suddenly cannot sleep.

• car crash
• electrical malfunction
• lake accident
• power failure

The Hub is a military facility where scientists are working to find a cure for the global insomnia crisis. It houses an elderly woman who is one of the few people who can still sleep, making her crucial for research. The facility is under heavy military guard and represents humanity's best hope for solving the sleep epidemic, though Dr. Murphy reveals they've only found temporary measures that cause neurological damage.

Foreshadowing: Dr. Murphy mentions The Hub early in the film as the only place where a cure might exist.

• the hub
• military facility
• cure
• research
• hospital

Noah claims to see shooting stars, which his mother Jill dismisses as satellites. These visions are actually hallucinations caused by sleep deprivation. After several days without sleep, the brain begins to experience severe cognitive disturbances, including visual hallucinations. This is one of the early signs that the insomnia epidemic is affecting the entire population.

• noah
• shooting stars
• hallucinations
• sleep deprivation
• vision

The police officer revives Matilda after she drowns in the lake crash, but the revival happens amid strange circumstances where all electrical devices begin malfunctioning. The officer performs CPR or some form of resuscitation that brings Matilda back. This near-death experience is later revealed to be the key to her ability to sleep while everyone else remains awake.

• matilda drowning
• police officer
• revival
• near-death
• lake

The film reveals that people who have experienced near-death situations can still sleep. Both Matilda and Noah nearly died, Matilda drowned in the lake and Noah stops breathing during the film's climax, and both retain the ability to sleep. This connection becomes crucial at the end when Matilda and Noah dunk Jill underwater to induce a near-death experience, hoping it will restore her ability to sleep and revive her.

Foreshadowing: The pattern emerges when the elderly woman at The Hub is also revealed to have survived a near-death event.

• near-death experience
• sleep ability
• matilda
• noah
• revival

Noah suffers a tragic accident while hallucinating from sleep deprivation at The Hub. He stops breathing or appears to die, leaving Jill and Matilda desperately trying to revive him. Miraculously, Noah regains consciousness afterward. This near-death experience, like Matilda's drowning, appears to be what grants him the ability to sleep when no one else can.

Foreshadowing: Noah's near-death follows the same pattern as Matilda's earlier drowning incident.

• noah death
• revival
• accident
• hallucinations
• near-death

The military wants Matilda because she is one of the few people who can still sleep in a world where everyone else suffers from global insomnia. Her unique physiology could hold the key to developing a cure. The authorities fear she'll be taken for experiments, which is why Jill rushes to protect her and eventually flees with the family. At The Hub, doctors conduct experiments on Matilda trying to discover what makes her different.

Foreshadowing: Dr. Murphy mentions early that authorities would take children for experiments if they could sleep.

• military
• matilda
• capture
• experiments
• cure
• authorities

At the end of Awake, Jill appears to die or lose consciousness after being restrained during the experiments. Her children, Matilda and Noah, realize that near-death experiences can restore the ability to sleep. They devise a desperate plan to dunk Jill underwater to induce a near-death state, hoping it will revive her. The film ends with Jill opening her eye as if revived, but the screen closes in on her face, leaving viewers uncertain about her full recovery and the fate of humanity's crisis.

• ending
• jill death
• revival
• near-death
• finale
• cliffhanger

Jill is a former U.S. Army medic who struggles with addiction. Despite working as a security guard at a local college, she engages in unethical behavior by stealing drugs from the research lab to sell on the side. This backstory establishes her flawed character and sets up her difficult journey as she tries to redeem herself by saving her family.

• jill
• stealing
• drugs
• addiction
• backstory

At the church, the pastor declares Matilda a "beacon of hope" because she is one of the few people who can still sleep in a world consumed by insomnia. The congregation has gathered around her, believing she may be the key to humanity's survival. This moment creates conflict when police arrive and the congregation refuses to hand over Matilda, leading to chaos.

• pastor
• church
• matilda
• beacon of hope
• congregation