[Note: In the wake ofthe Tribeca festival's postponement this year,The Hollywood Reporteris reviewing select entries that elected to premiere digitally.] It's fitting that Wake Up on Mars opens in winter.
The frozen Swedish landscape is an apt backdrop for this real-life tale of suspended animation: Two teenage sisters, in side-by-side beds, lie in a coma-like condition that's variously known as uppgivenhetssyndrom, apatisk (apathy) syndrome and resignation syndrome.
At the heart of this extreme withdrawal, as far as anyone can tell, are the anxiety and trauma surrounding the threat of deportation.
First-time director Dea Gjinovci is less interested in the history or epidemiology of the mysterious illness than she is in its day-to-day.
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