Wake Up

Phones are bad is simultaneously an overdone message and a sort of true one. The frequency of seeing this sort of message makes it a bit off-putting to see it again, although like everything there are good examples of its use, and many bad ones. Wake Up has the quality in Olivia Wilde, and the budget from HP, to be a stronger example, but it doesn't really manage to pull it off. The fluid movement of the girl has a nice look to it, and makes for plenty of good shots and images, but fundamentally it has a very simple message that is nothing new whatsoever. I did enjoy some aspects of it that contrasted the tethered nature of the phone users with the free movement, but generally it didn't do much for me in terms of any of the messages (phones being bad, or HP devices being good!).

Duh phones bad everyone can't experience reality because they too stupid doing nothing on their phones

This is an excellent short and after watching it you will wish there was more. I love the storyline behind "Wake Up" and it's a real eye opener that makes you want to put your phone down and look at the world around you. Margaret did a remarkable job portraying her character and really showed a lot of emotion. I would highly recommend this short film. I guarantee you'll love it.

Olivia Wilde laters short invites you to ask: "You ever watch Get Out, on weed?"

Wake Up (2020) follows a woman who is forced to rediscover her humanity in an increasingly digital world. This short film isn't bad, but the message is way too obvious and very cliche at this point. However, the cinematography is good and the filmmakers experiment with sound design.

The best part of this film is definitely the cinematography. There's a lot of great camerawork consisting of extreme close ups and good mood lighting. The camerawork also really gives the short a disorientating and uncertain feel.

The sound mixing feels a little off sometimes but I really respect what the short is going for in terms of sound design. In the first few minutes, there's some experimental use of echoes which I liked. However, the soundtrack feels very unfitting and often ruins the overall mood.

There is no proper introduction to the lead, but I think Margaret Qualley does a good job in her role and plays a very likeable character. I also really like the lack of dialogue as it makes the film more impactful and makes it rely on other elements of filmmaking more.

The main thing I dislike about this short is the message and metaphors. The message of 'technology is bad' is way too overdone, and I feel if you're going to make a film with that message, you have to do something very unique. This film, unfortunately, doesn't.

The short is very fast paced, resulting in it feeling a bit under-developed. I found it hard to fully get immersed in the story or characters due to this. However, it's definitely a well made film on a technical level and I respect that.