One of the tragedies of the opioid epidemic across America is the damage it inflicts on families — not only to those addicted but to those who try to keep households together despite the devastation.
In the film “Stay Awake,” it’s up to a couple of teenage sons to not only find their mother after a night’s binge, but take her to the emergency room, try to get her into a rehab they can afford and trust in and hope upon hope that the situation will change.
When we first see the earnest young brothers Ethan and Derek — excellently played by Wyatt Oleo and Fin Argus with a warmth and connection that might just make you think they’re really siblings — they’re trying to keep their mom conscious by forcing a singalong to 60s songs en route to the E.R.
Getting her to stay awake is a key consideration. And yet the title refers to each of the boys’ own realization that they must be aware of their own futures without becoming completely swamped by the morass at home.
Young Ethan is elated to be accepted at Brown but rejected by his girlfriend who thought he’d be going to the state college with her; the older Derek works the local bowling alley and auditions for TV ads in hopes of developing an acting career.
But things are always interrupted by the calamity caused their mother, who seems perfectly loving when sober but quite another person when using. We don’t see her doing so; like the boys, we only find she’s disappeared and follow along as they try to find her in the usual haunts somewhere in their little town — Hudson Valley hamlets filling in for Langford, Va.