Review: Wakey Wakey (2012)

Review by Ben Bussey

My mama always said that life is like a microbudget indie movie from a first time writer-director: you never know what you’re gonna get. Oftentimes the results are a little messy, with inexperience and uncertainty very much in evidence. However, there’s often a spark of real excitement and a charge of creativity that we tend not to find in the latest work from someone who’s been at it for years. A debut feature is invariably fuelled by hunger and ambition, and while sometimes that manifests itself in a complusion to win over as wide an audience as possible, there are also instances where the filmmmakers instead go in there with more of a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude, and try their hand at something genuinely unconventional, challenging and risky.

Australian writer-director Adrian Goodman has quite clearly taken the latter option with Wakey Wakey. In so doing, he and his crew have put together a movie which is atmospheric and abstract, sinister and sensual, by turns fascinating and frustrating, but never less than compelling. It certainly won’t be to all tastes (given the genre orientation of this website, I should stress that it isn’t really a horror film in the strictest sense), and perhaps it falls just a little short of its full potential, but there can be no question that it stands apart from the bulk of microbudget indie fare in this day and age.

Essentially a two-hander, Wakey Wakey centres on Josie (Laura Wheelwright) and Samantha (Fabiana Weiner), two young women – sisters, half-sisters, step-sisters? – who, while the parents are absent, are housebound in their fancy-looking futurist/post-modernist/whateverist home. Josie suffers from severe narcolepsy, which forces her to stay at home under Samantha’s supervision, wearing a helmet at all times. Inevitably the circumstances put a strain on their relationship – but it seems that Josie doesn’t mind too much, as she appears to have the kind of feelings toward Samantha which are not generally encouraged between siblings. However, quite apart from the physical peril it puts her in, Josie’s condition also means she’s in a constant state of uncertainty, never quite able to distinguish dream from reality – and it may be that Samantha is using this to manipulate her.

When I first saw the trailer to Wakey Wakey, I won’t deny the first description that came to mind was “Goth lesbian Eraserhead.” A crass kneejerk reaction, yes, but honestly not that wide of the mark – and none of this is in any way a bad thing. The first, most striking aspect of the film (and again, the thing that really makes it stand apart from most microbudget indies nowadays) is that, unless I’m very much mistaken, it was shot on good old fashioned black and white 16mm, rather than the now-standard DV. I cannot overstate what a refreshing change this is. While of course I understand the practical and financial advantages of shooting digitally, the sad reality is that in most instances it doesn’t look anywhere near as good as film. As such, Wakey Wakey has an aesthetic appeal that’s sorely lacking in the vast majority of modern microbudget movies, bringing to mind such monochrome delights as Aronofsky’s Pi, and – of course – Lynch’s Eraserhead. Nor do the aesthetic pleasures stop at the visuals, as Simon Eddy’s soundtrack is also powerful, atmospheric stuff, in-keeping with the overall industrial-goth mood.

Of course, given the movie to a large extent revolves around unconsumated girl-on-girl lust (and a seemingly incestuous attraction to boot), you’d be forgiven for expecting sordid and sleazy results. Happily, this is not the case. It’s rare indeed that I feel comfortable describing any film as erotic – it’s such a frequently misused term, so often applied to anything that your average Joe Bloggs could get a wank out of, which simply isn’t the same thing. However, Wakey Wakey has – yes – a genuine underlying eroticism, slow-burn sexual tension which – to the credit of both the director and the actresses – is maintained without ever getting explicit or resorting to cheesecake tactics. As this sexual energy is balanced out with an overriding air of the nightmarish, Wakey Wakey winds up a veritable emotional smorgasbord, with a least a subtle whiff of sadomasochism.

Why, then, do I feel Goodman’s film doesn’t quite fulfill its promise? Well – at barely 60 minutes, it’s a little short, and can’t avoid a sense of anti-climax. Obviously given the somewhat surreal nature of proceedings, the finale was never going to provide all the answers, and I’m very glad that it didn’t – but even so, it really does feel like it just cuts off too soon, before a natural conclusion has been reached. Even so, the hour that preceeds that too-sudden ending is beautifully realised enough that I can still wholeheartedly recommend seeking out Wakey Wakey as soon as you are able, and keeping an eye out for Adrian Goodman in the future.

A special WiH month screening of Wakey Wakey is happening in Melbourne on 13th February; learn more at the official Wakey Wakey website and Facebook page.