Wake Up (2010)

Spirituality isn't a topic for debate using facts or statistics. It's based on a key factor that cannot be proved: faith. The very definition of the word faith when used in spirituality means to have trust and belief in something you cannot prove. For me, either you have it or you don't. When you have it, there is nothing anyone can say or do to dissuade you from your beliefs and many who do not have it spend a lot of time trying to make those with faith feel stupid or uninformed.Jonas Elrod moves me in this film because of his honest and brave approach of placing his fears in the open and rolling up his sleeves and getting to the bottom of what is happening to him in his new existence. It's an candid journey over three years following a man desperately trying to figure out why he can all of the sudden access spirits and energy's and what his role is in the world with this new sensitivity. I will say, this documentary is very non-threatening. Many films on this topic, at some point, stray from the underlined purpose and try to drive home an agenda or ideology. Frankly, this was just an honest movie about a scared and insecure man just trying to save his relationship with the woman he loves while trying to figure out why the hell all of the sudden he can experience and see things he'd only read about or seen in movies. My take away form this film is something that hit and stuck with me towards the end. Jonas was at with a Native American family going on a vision quest. There was a baby with the father and the baby was so energetic and full of life- soaking in all that was around him and the father was so quiet and patient. I loved the dynamic because the father knew the baby was experiencing and learning all the new things around him, things the baby has never seen. It reminded me of Jonas and his quest for knowledge. For me- what's the difference between a baby being introduced to a new world full of things he's never seen, smelled, felt, tasted, or heard before and the world for Jonas now, which is full of new senses for him to learn and experience. Who are we to judge someone's journey when we don't have the experiences to relate or compare to his? I also learned that in all the Native American languages, there is no term or word for "goodbye", only "til next time". How lovely. So, with that said, til your next film, Jonas Elrod.

The description of this film was extremely interesting to me. A young man wakes up one day and is able to see angels, demons and ghosts. Awesome! That is exactly the kind of documentary I was looking for, and the kind of thing I am interested in. I began watching, and couldn't wait to see what remarkable things the man would have to share, and how he would put this ability to use. Unfortunately, this film failed to deliver much insight. I appreciate that he decided to document his experiences, and that he embarked on a spiritual journey of sorts to try to figure out why it was happening to him and what to do with his gift. But, although he did embark on this "quest for answers" he also seemed so resistant to everything and so clueless the whole time, that it was almost like he didn't gain anything and neither did I from watching him. There were some very interesting segments in this film and the subject matter itself was enough to keep me watching, but everything seemed half-hearted and there never seemed to be much of a desire to use the gift to help others. It was more like, although he said it was such a great thing, his attitude seemed more that he considered it a nuisance. I get it though. This is the "real" experience he had. He struggled, he didn't necessarily always WANT to be gifted. This is an aspect of this kind of thing we don't often see. He didn't just become a famous medium with a reality show. He wasn't a "spiritual" or "new agey" type person. I am sure there are many like him who could have related to his situation. But still, I wish he would have been more passionate and would have embraced things more. It almost seemed like he had a closed mind to his own experiences! Like I said, I credit him for at least doing what he did. He tried, and he did some interesting work and spoke to some interesting people, no doubt. I would like to see a sequel made when he has fully come to terms and figured out how to use his gift.

Personally, I am very skeptical of these types of claims and there were a few things that stood out. First off, he claims he can see angels, demons, spirits, etc., and he does give a vague explanation of what he sees, but he doesn't get into enough detail. For example, he does not explain how he can tell the difference between an angel and a demon. Also, are any of these spirits comforting or do they all creep him out? I really would have liked more detail and focus on what he actually experiences but I felt like a lot of it was glossed over because of his discomfort on the subject matter (to which I ask, why bother making a documentary?). During the scene in the psychiatrists office, he claims there is a woman behind the psychiatrist but is unwilling or unable to describe what she looks like. If he can see her, why not try and describe her? If he can not describe her, how does he know it's a woman? So, as a viewer, we are supposed to just believe that a woman is standing there without any elaboration whatsoever. He doesn't even attempt to find a possible connection between the woman and the psychiatrist.After finishing the movie, I have no better understanding of what he experiences and why than the very brief description at the beginning of the movie. I don't see how he (or the viewers) got any answers from what he did/the people he visited. The movie felt like it had more of a focus on religion and/or spirituality than his "gift" and I don't understand why he is uncomfortable using sage in his house yet he fits right in with Buddhist monks and was elated about his vision quest in the woods.All in all, I do not feel this is worth watching. I am interested in watching a documentary about someone who has a "gift" like this however I am not interested in watching some random guy find his religion.

Like another reviewer here, I have to question the veracity of Elrod's claim that he sees people (and colors, and other things) that others cannot see. For someone who woke up one day to experience these phenomena, he seems remarkably incurious as to why it is occurring. Although the documentary purports to take us along on Elrod's journey to do just that, it ends up sidetracked in a morass of new-age spirituality that has little to do with the specific phenomena that occur to Elrod. As a viewer, it's frustrating to watch Elrod avoid the simple and most obvious questions that would arise by placing oneself in his shoes.For example, Elrod (early in the film) speaks to a therapist (psychiatrist? Not sure as I don't believe the gentleman was identified). He tells the therapist that he (Elrod) can see a woman standing behind him (the therapist). He seems troubled, which is understandable. Yet we never see Elrod wonder what that woman's presence indicates. Does she want to tell him something? Is she in pain? Is she threatening? The viewer is only left to wonder, because that's one of the last times Elrod addresses a specific instance.For the balance of the documentary, we see Elrod visit a series of spiritual guides, who offer him little in the way of answering what or why this is happening to him. They offer platitudes about embracing the change in his life but it does little to resolve the question about what is happening to him or what the phenomena are.As a viewer, I don't expect necessarily to get to the bottom of Elrod's experience, but I expect him to at least engage the obvious questions. At the end, Elrod seems happy but nothing along the way occurs to him that would logically explain his transformation from the muttering, troubled person at the beginning of the film. Perhaps Elrod preferred not to end on a down-note or at least not at the same place he started three years prior, but it seemed like a ham-handed attempt to appear cheerful after his journey, rather than as logically confused as he leaves his viewer.