01
The Elephant Man
Why this pick
Like Awakenings, it finds immense dignity and emotional force in a medical institution, with compassionate doctors and an outsider fighting to be seen as fully human.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1990 2h 0m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Awakenings
Drama
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Awakenings, try these.
01
02
Lorenzo's Oil
Why this pick
A patient, humane true-story drama about families and doctors confronting a devastating neurological illness, driven by persistence rather than easy uplift.
03
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Why this pick
Its intimate, subjective filmmaking similarly turns severe physical confinement into an affecting portrait of consciousness, connection, and the value of everyday life.
04
The Doctor
Why this pick
This character-led hospital drama shares Awakenings' humane attention to the doctor-patient relationship and to how illness can fundamentally alter one's sense of empathy.
05
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
Why this pick
A warmly observed, emotionally unsentimental story of a man asserting his inner life against others' assumptions, with the same deep respect for resilience and personhood.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
In 1969, a doctor tests an experimental drug on a man in an unresponsive state — who awakens after 30 years and must come to grips with life as an adult.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Robert De Niro
Leonard Lowe
Penelope Ann Miller
Paula
Max von Sydow
Dr. Peter Ingham
Alice Drummond
Lucy Fishman
Laura Esterman
Lolly
Judith Malina
Rose
Keith Diamond
Anthony
Bradley Whitford
Dr. Tyler