Trust Starts Dying Long Before Humanity Does

Read Time:5 Minute, 23 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Woken
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Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror
Year Released: 2024, 2026
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director(s): Alan Friel
Writer(s): Alan Friel, Rebecca Pollock
Cast: Erin Kellyman, Maxine Peake, Ivanno Jeremiah, Peter McDonald, Corrado Invernizzi
Where to Watch: on UK digital May 25, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: Alan Friel’s WOKEN understands how unsettling uncertainty can become when nobody around you seems willing just to say what’s going on. Rather than approaching mystery through explosive reveals or fast-moving twists, the film builds tension through isolation, fragmented memory, and the growing suspicion that every answer being offered comes with something being withheld. That atmosphere becomes the movie’s greatest strength, especially in its first half, where nearly every interaction feels off in ways difficult to define.

Erin Kellyman plays Anna, a pregnant woman who wakes up on a remote island after an accident with no memory of who she is or how she arrived there. The people surrounding her insist they’re helping her recover. A man named James claims to be her husband, while nearby neighbors attempt to fill in the missing details surrounding her life and the state of the outside world. As Anna slowly pieces together fragments of information, she learns that humanity has been devastated by a catastrophic pandemic that brought civilization to the brink of extinction. Even with those revelations, though, she can’t shake the feeling that something far more disturbing is happening beneath the surface.

The film works best when it allows that paranoia to consume both Anna and the audience alongside her. Every explanation sounds rehearsed enough to create doubt, and every moment of reassurance feels strangely loaded. WOKEN rarely relies on overt horror imagery to generate tension (though it does have its fair share). Instead, it uses uncertainty itself as the primary source of discomfort. Alan Friel understands that confusion can become psychologically exhausting when someone loses the ability to trust their own understanding of reality.

Kellyman carries much of the film because her performance never feels exaggerated. Anna spends most of the runtime trapped in a state where she can’t trust the people around her, her own memories, or even her role in the larger situation unfolding around her. Kellyman plays that confusion with restraint rather than hysteria, which keeps the character grounded even as the story grows stranger. There is a constant sense that Anna is carefully measuring every conversation and every interaction, trying to determine whether she is being protected or manipulated.

That performance becomes especially important because WOKEN is far more interested in atmosphere than spectacle. The island contributes to the film’s oppressive tone. Despite the open landscapes and coastal scenery, the movie gradually starts feeling more claustrophobic as it progresses. Empty shorelines, isolated buildings, and cold gray skies create the sense that the world itself has already died long before Anna understands what has happened to humanity.

Maxine Peake also adds a great deal to the film’s atmosphere. Her performance as Helen constantly shifts between comforting and unsettling, never committing to either. The supporting cast, in general, benefits from the film’s refusal to signal obvious villains or heroes immediately. Everyone behaves just naturally enough to maintain uncertainty, which allows the tension to grow organically rather than through forced suspense mechanics.

There’s an interesting layer involving bodily autonomy and control running beneath the larger sci-fi narrative. Anna’s pregnancy complicates nearly every interaction she has, as others around her constantly shape decisions about her future. The film explores fears about agency, motherhood, and survival without reducing those ideas to overly simplistic commentary. Those themes give the story more emotional grounding than a standard dystopian mystery would.

The atmosphere remains strong enough to keep the film engaging even through its weaker stretches. Friel demonstrates a confident visual style throughout the movie, especially impressive considering this is his feature debut. WOKEN consistently feels larger than its modest scale might suggest. The cinematography, sound design, and emotionally restrained performances all contribute to a lingering sense of dread that helps sustain audience investment even as the narrative starts to wobble.

The film also deserves credit for avoiding the artificial quality that plagues much modern dystopian science fiction. WOKEN feels cold, exhausted, and worn down in ways that fit its world. The apocalypse here isn’t presented as a backdrop of action-filled spectacle. Instead, it feels intimate, quiet, and draining, which gives the movie a more unsettling tone than many larger productions achieve.

WOKEN succeeds more as a psychological mood piece than as a mystery thriller. The film is strongest when it allows uncertainty and paranoia to dominate the experience without overexplaining every detail. Once the story shifts toward larger answers and revelations, some of the tension inevitably fades. Still, the performances, atmosphere, and emotional undercurrents remain compelling enough to make the journey worthwhile.

The movie doesn’t entirely stick the landing, but enough intelligence and genuine unease are running through it to leave an impression. More importantly, it continues proving that Erin Kellyman has the screen presence necessary to anchor psychologically demanding material like this. Even when the narrative loses some momentum near the end, she keeps the emotional core grounded enough to carry WOKEN through its final stretch.

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[photo courtesy of 101 FILMS]

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