In the quiet and lonely town of Langford, Virginia, live two brothers. On a regular basis, they find themselves driving around, frantically searching for their mother late at night. Deep down, they know it’ll happen again. That it’s all inevitable. But they hold onto the hope that this will be the last time. Upon finding her, they continue to sing tunes to her in the back of the car. Anything to keep her awake until morning.

This is the familiar scene that starts off Emmy-award-winning director Jamie Sisley’s new drama Stay Awake. Inspired by Sisley’s own experiences, the film follows Ethan (Wyatt Oleff) and his older brother Derek (Fin Argus) as they struggle with their mother’s (Chrissy Metz) opioid addiction. They do everything they can to keep her alive. Unlike other addiction-focused dramas, Sisley chooses not to show much of the actual relapse, instead focusing more on how it impacts the lives of two sons navigating everyday life. One step at a time.

Perhaps as a result of this film being Sisley working through his own upbringing, the subject matter at hand is treated with significant care. But a lack of true focus in its narrative, along with underdeveloped characters and loose plot threads, makes the end product feel less emotionally satisfying and involving for us to watch.

The performances from the main trio of actors are the glue that holds the entire film together. As Michelle, a mother who loves her sons but doesn’t always know how to show that, Metz gives a truly challenging performance with profound ease. When her character struggles to externally show her emotions to her sons, her eyes painfully spell out the whole story. This is even more impressive, considering her limited screen time in the middle of the film.

Metz’s role on the hit show This Is Us (2016-2022) will likely be a draw for many viewers, but the pair of actors who portray Ethan and Derek are the true beating heart of everything we see. They bring the bond between these two brothers to life perfectly, showing how they come from different perspectives in life yet support and uplift each other in the best ways possible. Aside from a few out-of-place supporting performances, the cast is uniformly excellent here. It’s such a shame, then, to see the limited material they ultimately have to work with.

The most interesting and complicated dynamic is how Ethan and Derek feel a push and pull between following their own dreams in life and staying in Langford to be there for their mom. We watch Ethan get accepted into Brown to study English, and Derek books local commercials as he yearns to be an actor.

But as much as we hear about each brother’s goals in life through expository dialogue, we never really get to see or feel their passion for it. This is the film’s biggest missed opportunity. Aside from one quick montage showing Derek auditioning for a role, it’s difficult to connect with why these characters feel a calling to these walks of life. If more time in the script had been devoted to actually seeing Ethan write and Derek act, understanding what about these professions brings them joy, this crucial conflict could’ve been more impactful.

Derek especially feels stuck in his hometown because the act of leaving — even for just a few days — seems like leaving everything behind for good. This is where the film’s small-town, local setting comes into play, as it’s the only thing Ethan and Derek have grown up to know. The kind of secluded place where everybody knows everybody only adds to the feeling of desperation and depression that the characters face. Sisley understands how the town itself is a character here to great effect, and this could’ve been emphasized even more throughout.

Ethan’s queerness is also briefly hinted at in one scene and never brought up again — yet another place where Sisley could have expanded on and developed the characters more. There are too many loose plot threads here that weigh down what otherwise would have been a powerful story. The fantastic performances and themes shine, especially by the film’s end, but the missed potential is quite unfortunate, to say the least.

Review Courtesy of Matt Minton

Feature image via ‘Stay Awake’ Fusion Entertainment