‘Awareness’ (2023) Review – Over-The-Top Sci-Fi Thriller Is Both Bland And Too Complex Simultaneously

Few sci-fi movies are praised for their emotional depth. Most of them are – as the name already gives away – based around the science fiction aspect and nothing more. This can work if a particular film can count on stunning visual effects and a strong storyline that brings all the action together in an intriguing way. Sadly, that’s not the case in Awareness, Daniel Benmayor’s (Xtremo) latest feature. It certainly has the right amount of action and sci-fi elements, yet the unaesthetic visuals and too-complex storyline don’t allow you to get invested in the characters and the movie.

A rebellious teenager, Ian (Carlos Scholz), lives with his father, Vincente (Pedro Alonso), on the outskirts of a dystopian society. They don’t have much and are trying to do everything they can to survive. Luckily for them, Ian can project visual illusions onto people, making them see what Ian wants them to see. That’s quite handy when Ian and his father are going shoplifting again to make ends meet. While father and son don’t have a great bond – they barely talk to each other – they’re thick as thieves when it comes to stealing and scamming people.

However, one day, it goes completely wrong when Ian loses control over his power, putting him on the radar of a secret organization that has been looking for him for years. When they eventually capture him, they inform Ian that he’s not the only one with special powers. Coming to terms with this new information that his family kept from him and that his life might be a total lie, Ian has to figure out who he can trust and what’s real without losing control over his reality and power.

When Ian knows the truth, this movie becomes even more difficult to follow than Inception or Tenet (we never thought that was possible). The many twists, turns, and deceptions are all coming for you at high speeds, and so are the aforementioned forces. While this movie shines and shows us signs of originality and personality during the more ‘simple’ scenes – pretty sure that filming that great police chase was still tricky – it completely loses itself during the more head-twisting moments. The storyline is so dense that it becomes uninteresting, and the visuals have to keep up with all those changes, but they can’t, resulting in a nausea-inducing feeling.

We can say the same thing about the characters. The solid and unique characters at the beginning become much more predictable and generic towards the end. The filmmakers focus too much on giving the perplexing storyline a good closure instead of giving the lead characters the great material they deserve. The only two actors who are allowed to put their stamp on this movie are Scholz and María Pedraza as Esther, a confidant of Ian.

Scholz (Desconocidas) plays his part as the lead exceptionally well and becomes Awareness‘ heart and soul. His commitment to his character and the action-packed fights is commendable and a pleasure to watch. That’s one great thing that this movie has going for it: the action scenes. The film is filled with action from the beginning. There’s no shortage of fights and chases, but sadly, those are at the expense of the emotional impact and connection with the audience.

His performance would have been even better if Scholz only had much more to work with. The storyline Benmayor and co-writer Ivan Ledesma (Xtremo) created – based on the original manga – doesn’t offer much to our lead protagonist or give us much to root for. We learn some things about Ian, such as the fact he grew up without a mother and that his father sacrificed a lot in the past for his son, but the filmmaker doesn’t explore those aspects, which could have given Ian the depth he now lacks. Also, the science fiction jingle that appears every time Ian nods his head to use his powers is fun at first, but the more we hear it, the more annoying it becomes.

Pedraza (Money Heist) always gives us a fascinating and powerful performance, even in a film like this, where her sole purpose is to ensure the movie progresses. We can say the same about the rest of the female characters. No matter their importance, they’re all reduced and have no personality.

There’s absolutely an exciting concept running through Awareness. It’s about special powers, making people see illusions and secret organizations. Those aspects should make this feature a must-see sci-fi film, but the movie fails to hit its mark, mainly because of the way-too-complicated storyline and the underdeveloped characters.

Awareness is currently available to stream on Prime Video

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM873zmWbn4]