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Home - Movies - Wake (2023) – Review and Summary

Wake (2023) – Review and Summary

As usual, a person with a mental illness ends up killing people, with the only difference in “Wake” being that person is a rapper.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted onOctober 14, 2023 7:51 AMOctober 20, 2023 5:21 PM Hours Updated onOctober 20, 2023 5:21 PM
Title Card

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.


Additionally, some images and text may include affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission or receive products if you make a purchase.


  • General Information
    • Content Rating Explanation
  • Film Summary
    • Character Descriptions
      • Sarita
      • Eddie
      • P-Mac
      • Byrn
  • Review
    • On The Fence
      • Eddie Was Corny
      • Preston's Backstory & How His Mental Illness Was Handled
      • Sarita
    • Who Is This For?
    • Recommendations

General Information

Director(s) Erik White
Screenplay By Darryl J. Quarrles
Based On Story By Darryl J. Quarrles
Date Released (BET Plus) October 12, 2023
Genre(s) Crime

Horror

Thriller

LGBT+

Film Length 1 Hour 24 Minutes
Content Rating Rated TV-MA
Noted Characters and Cast
Sarita Shoniqua Shandai
Eddie Deray Davis
P-Mac J. Alphonse Nicholson
Byrn Parker McKenna Posey

Content Rating Explanation

“Wake” contains:

  • Dialog: Cursing
  • Violence: gun violence, open wounds, domestic violence, depiction or murder
  • Sexual Content: scantily clad women
  • Miscellaneous: drinking and smoking

Film Summary

This content contains pertinent spoilers. Also, images and text in this post may contain affiliate links. If a purchase is made from those sites, we may earn money or products from the company.

Due to having narcolepsy, Dr. Sarita Matthews doesn’t stray too far from home, unless her cousin Eddie accompanies her. This has led to her dating life and social life being limited, but she is thankfully able to still teach at MIT remotely. But, all her focus shifts to her neighbor, popular rapper P-Mac when he moves in next door.

Why? Due to Dr. Matthews suffering from hallucinations. The hallucinations and P-Mac flirting with Dr. Matthews’ friend and crush, Byrn, cause issues. Never mind, P-Mac has a history of domestic violence, and with that, Dr. Matthews, mainly in trying to keep her crush from dating anyone, keeps a close eye on P-Mac and often believes he is doing something nefarious.

Character Descriptions

Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.

Sarita

Sporting three advanced degrees, and teaching physica and advanced physical science at MIT often keeps Dr. Sarita Matthews busy. However, with narcolepsy plaguing her, she often doesn’t travel, feels limited in her ability to date, so she stays in her Short Hills, New Jersey home usually, or close by to it.

  • The actor is also known for their role in “Bodied” and their role in “Harlem.”

Eddie

Eddie is Sarita’s cousin who looks out for her and handles the tasks she may not be able to due to fears of passing out.

  • The actor is also known for their role in “How To Act Black” and their role in “The Chi.”

P-Mac

A popular rapper with a violent streak, P-Max, government name Preston, has anger issues stemming from his childhood, alongside bipolar disorder, which makes him volatile.

  • The actor is also known for their role in “P-Valley,” their role in “White Men Can’t Jump (2023),” and their role in “Self Made: Inspired By The Life of Madam C.J. Walker.”

Byrn

Byrn is a nurse who lives in Sarita’s neighborhood, is recently divorced, and everyone’s crush, including Sarita’s.

Review

Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)

On The Fence

Eddie Was Corny

I mean, it’s DeRay Davis. He plays a useful role as Eddie to Sarita, but also the kind of character who easily becomes annoying as hell. Especially since Eddie is always joking with Sarita regarding her disability, hallucinations, and just about anything you can name. Which, yes, makes him seem more real than a character, but it doesn’t lessen how the string of corny jokes never had a sense of luster and were just annoying from the jump.

Preston’s Backstory & How His Mental Illness Was Handled

There is no sense of Preston being a complicated character whatsoever. He’s a rapper with mommy issues who takes after his father’s willingness for domestic violence, and he is bipolar and refuses to take his medication. There are no layers to him, and having a bland villain like him, with no sign he is trying to change or be better was a bit of a bore.

Sarita

Is making her narcoleptic and mentioning some of the symptoms and challenges she has interesting? Only a little. It rarely elevates beyond feeling like a gimmick, especially when she passes out at the absolute worst time and wakes up with a joke to play off the situation or a joke from Eddie.

But, points to BET for having a lead who was a lesbian and the hero.

Who Is This For?

If you are someone who just loves seeing Black people in thrillers, this is for you.

Recommendations

If you like this movie, we recommend:

  1. The Reading
  2. Under His Influence
  3. Cruel Encounters

Check out our movies page for our latest movie reviews and recommendations.


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Woke (2023) – Overview

Summary

“Wake” is just too barebones, and that’s with giving us Sarita’s accolades and detailing both her condition and Preston’s mental illness. For even with those details, it still feels like the minimum was done to be just another movie that uses someone’s trauma as a quick jump-off point for a thriller.

Overall
73%
73%
  • Eddie Was Corny - 71%
    71%
  • Preston’s Backstory & How His Mental Illness Was Handled - 73%
    73%
  • Sarita - 75%
    75%
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User Review
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Pros

  • N/A

Cons

  • Sarita
  • Preston’s Backstory & How His Mental Illness Was Handled
  • Eddie Was Corny
  • Check out The Prime Video Storefront To Rent or Buy Movies, or Subscribe To Prime Video Channels
  • Rating System Details

Listed Under Categories: Movies, Mixed (Divisive)

Related Tags: BET Plus, Crime, Darryl J. Quarrles, DeRay Davis, Erik White, Horror, J. Alphonse Nicholson, LGBT+, Parker McKenna Posey, Rated TV-MA, Shoniqua Shandai, Thriller

Amari Allah

Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.

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