“Oh, Anna… you are our greatest success.” That's the chilling whisper from the new trailer for Woken, and honestly? It slithered right under my skin.
A fresh take on a familiar world
You know that image—bleak isolation, empty landscapes echoing with pandemic dread? Woken taps into it, but flips the script. Instead of chaos erupting, it's contained—an island sanctuary gone sinister. Anna (Erin Kellyman) wakes up disoriented, pregnant, stripped of memory. And what's being whispered in her ear? The idea that her very existence is the apocalypse's linchpin.
Premiered at the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival in 2023, then at Dublin Film Festival in 2024, Woken marks Alan Friel's leap into features. Co-written with Rebecca Pollock, the film comes from Dark Sky Films and lands in U.S. theaters and VOD on July 18, 2025.
Why it matters now
It's a post-pandemic thriller, but it's not just riffing on glassed cities and empty streets. Think psychological gaslighting unspooling in hushed tones. Erin Kellyman is no stranger to layered roles—after all, she blew us away in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Willow . Here, she plays Anna: untrusting, tactical, yet heartbreakingly human. Across from her, Maxine Peake brings nuance as Helen, a nurse whose smile might be salvation—or subterfuge.
From early whispers at festivals, critics liken Woken to “paranoia‑taut” sci‑fi: emotionally sparse, yet packed with tension. And yes, the comparison to Children of Men hovers, but this feels more like winner‑takes‑all horror—womb as weapon, memory as trap.
A cultural echo
We're still digesting our collective pandemic memory. The fear of control—what if authorities use us? What if we're the experiment, not the experimenters? Woken surfaces those fears quietly. No mass panic, just slow, efficient dread. It's a smarter, subtler breed of dystopia that feels too close to our current edge.
Bottom line?
I'm hooked. The trailer shows more question marks than answers, and that's exactly the point. July 18th can't come soon enough. And if you're into psychological sci‑fi that chills with restraint and layers, this one's whispering your name.
📅 Key Dates
- April–June 2022 – Filming on Fanore Beach and University of Limerick
- 2023 – Premiere at Trieste Science+Fiction Festival
- March 1, 2024 – Screening at Dublin Film Festival
- July 4, 2024 – Theatrical release in Italy
- July 18, 2025 – U.S. theatrical + VOD debut via Dark Sky Films
