I recently watched the most heart wrenching, emotional movie I have ever seen and it would be absolutely criminal if I did not share it with you. It is relatively hard to make me cry at a movie (unless there are animals involved), and yet this movie had tears streaming down my cheeks. However it was not just sadness that I felt throughout the film, but happiness, pride, and anger. Awakenings is a beautiful drama set in a Bronx mental hospital back in the 60’s and it follows a certain Doctor Sayer (Robin Wiliams) who devotes himself to treating catatonic patients.Â
It is not a film rooted in fiction but in fact, as it follows the work and personal experiences of neurologist Doctor Oliver Sacks. Sacks was born in England back in 1933. He studied medicine at Oxford University before moving to New York City, where he settled down. In 1966 he began work at the Beth Abraham Hospital (aka the setting of the film), where he was first introduced to a group of patients diagnosed with Encephalitis Lethargica, otherwise called “sleepy sickness”. This disease, which is rare now, became an epidemic in the early 1900’s where it affected around 1 million people, causing patients to lose all consciousness, resulting in a frozen, statue-like state. Research on the disease alone is fascinating, as the disease became one of the greatest of medical mysteries.Â
And yet Oliver Sacks did not accept defeat. With his own innovative medicinal ideas and theories, he sought to prescribe a new medication (called L-Dopa) to the patients. And in the interest of not spoiling the movie, all I can say is something utterly unimaginable happens. This is a 10/10 watch that, dare I say, you HAVE to watch. But before you do, buckle up, because it is the ultimate emotional roller coaster. Featuring famed actors Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, this 1990’s film is not lacking in talent. Awakenings is available for free streaming on Netflix or for rent on Amazon prime.