Written and directed by Mark McAuley, who also stars in the film, following the funeral of an old friend, a woman attends his wake hoping to find closure. Also starring: Sadhbh Larkin Coyle, Kojii Helnwein and Lacy Moore.
A time of mourning is always going to be ripe for intense emotional revelations and old grievances making a reappearance, which aWake dives headfirst into. As a concept, it works very well but the way in which it progresses is not particularly effective. It doesn’t feel as though we ever truly arrive at the real emotional work, it’s stuck in the pre-amble and the credits are already rolling before there’s time to unpack all the issues at work.
Part of that is aWake focuses a lot on the aggression and intensity, when it builds both those elements up quickly, and could have moved on sooner. With that focus being extended, it also tends to feel like it’s repeating itself, going over the same ground rather than adding to the story. The anger, resentment and the sparks of old feelings are all there, but it needed something to balance those out, to evolve its story.
The way that the dialogue presents itself is that it’s almost always on the defensive, it’s filled with hostility and possessive behaviour. To Mark McAuley’s credit, it does do a wonderful job of exploring how none of the relationships it touches upon are at all healthy. Unfortunately, it simply isn’t satisfying viewing when the characters can’t move forward. It’s as if aWake concludes in the moment that should have been more like the midpoint of the film. To give these characters time to truly reflect and unpack everything, because there is a great deal.
One thing that aWake is never short of is trauma and this quartet of actors do an effective job of bringing that to the table. Especially since for the most part, they’re doing so without openly acknowledging the true nature of their pain. Perhaps with the exception of Sadhbh Larkin Coyle’s Siobhan who, as the widow, has free reign to throw all of her suffering on the table. Coyle gives us an on edge performance, she’s ready to pounce on any and every comment that anyone makes. She also does a wonderful job of bringing an almost drunken quality through the very realistic, exhausted state that she portrays Siobhan in.
There’s a similar quality to the way Mark McAuley presents Michael, in the sense that he’s a simple guy, his heart is very much on his sleeve. He has a slightly bumbling quality that’s an interesting mix of naïve and frustrating, leaving you feeling sorry for him but it’s also quite clear how his presence only aggravates the evening. Whereas Lacy Moore gives us some classic passive aggression and a nicely patronising attitude. She adds a bit of variety, although her character’s clingy qualities later in the film do chip away at her presence.
What’s unexpected is how downplayed Kojii Helnwein’s role is as the catalyst of the entire story, Anna. She’s so frequently out of shot or only filmed in a very obscured manner, for such an emotional journey that she’s trying to take, it’s an unusual choice. Although, that does partly come as a consequence of the directorial style, using only two continuous shots. It’s a bold choice and you can see the intention behind it, to feed into the intensity, anxiety and confrontational nature of aWake.
However, the result is that the film often feels unfocused and occasionally a character will entirely block the shot. It can also tend to use a lot of movement which can be distracting in intense moments. Although the visual quality and cinematography (by Greg Kozma) does work well, using that black and white aesthetic to really nail down the focus on these characters and their conflicts.
aWake brings an intense presence, filled to the brim with conflict and trauma. Mark McAuley instils the atmosphere with resentment, bitterness and regret but it ultimately feels like we don’t get very far. It takes the characters until the very end to finally outwardly acknowledge the real issues at work and doesn’t give them the time to unpack them or come to a satisfying conclusion, leaving things unresolved. McAuley takes an admirable risk with the direction to try and intensify the film even further but unfortunately, it can feel unfocused. It needed a touch more stability and stillness with the direction and balance with the tone of the story to reach its full potential.
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