Awakenings
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor. From TMDB
128 reactions from 3 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews) · newest Sep 23, 2026 · last updated Oct 9, 2026 · How this works
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60 of 128 · most liked firstRewatched the movie Awakenings today and found it even more emotionally impactful now in light of how kindness, so abundant in that film, is in such short supply today; how we’re headed into times with the most heartless people in charge of our government. With MAGA, cruelty is the point. Sad.
unlabelledView post →In a new TV series, Zachary Quinto will play Dr. Wolf, a character inspired by my late friend, neurologist Oliver Sacks. In the film version of "Awakenings," Sacks, played by Robin Williams, was turned into a straight man. I wonder if Quinto will play Sacks as he was, gay. parade.com/tv/dr-wolf-s...
unlabelledView post →#JulyMovieChallenge #Filmsky 7/21: Favorite Robin Williams movie(s) It's a draw! I'll be taking no questions.😜 "Dead Poets Society (1989) and "Awakenings" (1990)
unlabelledView post →Hey @bradleywhitford.bsky.social - Historians At The Movies is doing a watch party of Awakenings tonight. Any thoughts or memories of making the movie? Thanks! #HATM
unlabelledView post →WAIT BEBE NEUWIRTH IS BACK FOR THIS ONE TOO AUNT NORA WAS ONE OF MY GAY AWAKENINGS SO THIS IS ALREADY GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME.
unlabelledView post →Lovely mark-making on the backgrounds too. Such gorgeous work. The 'Awakenings' short film is... good. Well-made, lotsa love. Felt like eating a dessert that didn't match the main course? Undid the YEEEEAHHH feeling of the film you've gone to see? That's a programming crit, not its content.
unlabelledView post →Yes I went and saw the movie in theaters. Wasn't impressed with Optimus Prime Awakenings. It didn't give me goosebumps for whatever direction it moves the franchise. Peter was of course amazing. He's always the professional and gives his all. All the way up to the end. Robot Dad has standards.
unlabelledView post →Friend of mine is reading “Awakenings” by Oliver Sacks and we were talking about some of the actual cases, so of course, we re-watched the film tonight. At one point my husband turned to me and said, “that nurse is the voice actress for Marge Simpson”.
unlabelledView post →Do you remember the movie Awakenings? The miracle drug that treated those locked-in patients was L-Dopa, developed with NIH funding, & the gold standard for treating Parkinson’s disease. publicusaresearchbenefits.com/examples/202... Ask Congress to save science. #FundingScienceSavesLives
unlabelledView post →And here goes Awakenings, a movie I haven’t watched since high school health class, with Historians at the Movies! #HATM
unlabelledView post →I loved Awakenings, that was such a beautiful movie.
unlabelledView post →Fantastic interview of Oliver Sacks talking about Encephalitis Lethargica, the ‘Sleepy Sickness’ experienced by many after the 1918 influenza pandemic. Oliver Sacks’ experiences of working with E.L. patients is the basis of the book and film, Awakenings.🧪 youtu.be/QNum0dTYalk
unlabelledView post →Name your fav Robin Williams film “Awakenings”
unlabelledView post →Name a movie you saw once that hit so hard you don’t think you can watch it again. For me, it’s the movie “Awakenings”. Great movie, but heart wrenching.
unlabelledView post →Remember the ‘90s movie called Awakenings? Time for a 2026 remake. #WhenYouKnowBetterDoBetter
unlabelledView post →#JulyMovieChallenge #Moviesky 7/21. Favorite Robin Williams Movie. Awakenings (1990)
unlabelledView post →Who is your fave #Dracula?... Addressing Four Deadly Movie Awakenings from Dracula weegiemidget.wordpress.com/on-films-and...
unlabelledView post →My ★★★ review of Awakenings boxd.it/a5b4vf Incredible, heart-rending true story presented in simplistic & inauthentic manner. Tonal misfire saps film of strength & power with mildly comedic beat. Oscar nom DeNiro gets mad near end, something finally feels real instead of manipulative. #filmsky 📽
unlabelledView post →#NowWatching AWAKENINGS (1990). Director: Penny Marshall. Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams. Based on true story. Using new drug trial, doctor is able to rouse an incurable patient from perpetual catatonic state. Oscar noms: Best Picture & DeNiro. #filmsky 📽
unlabelledView post →📽️ #MovieChallenge - Week 48 #Filmsky Film 3: Awakenings, first watch. I’m thankful that there are still compassionate people in the world that can make a difference. I’m also thankful Robin Williams existed but we lost him far, far too early. 9/10
unlabelledView post →Second film of the day and 52nd of the year, from my list of most popular unwatched films, #NowWatching Awakenings, 1990, Penny Marshall, USA #filmsky 📽️
unlabelledView post →Upon some research it appears the series is based upon Dr. Oliver Sacks. Famously the basis of the movie Awakenings with Robin Williams. Dr. Sacks also experienced face blindness.
unlabelledView post →First Robin Williams Movie: Good morning Vietnam Favorite: Awakenings
unlabelledView post →Happy 62nd Birthday to the criminally underappreciated Penelope Ann Miller, award-winning film, television, and theater actress, amazing in ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, THE FRESHMAN, AWAKENINGS, KINDERGARDEN COP, CARLITO'S WAY, THE RELIC, THE ARTIST, FAMILY TIES, and MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE, and more.
unlabelledView post →VERY EXCITED FOR THE NEW PREDATOR ANTHOLOGY MOVIE TO BRING A NEW GENERATION OF SEXUAL AWAKENINGS ONTO THE INTERNET. PEOPLE NEED TO REMEMBER THE APPEAL OF A GIANT MUSCLED ALIEN MAN THAT CAN CRUSH YOUR SKULL AND YOUR PROSTATE
unlabelledView post →www.interviewmagazine.com/film/walton-... Walton Goggins and Danny McBride on Nervous Breakdowns and Spiritual Awakenings
unlabelledView post →Good thing that dealing with the long-term implications of pandemics is a thing of the past, and we can enjoy a lovely little movie with absolutely no present day historic connections. Wake up to a thoughtful little film on medical science and letting life live! #Awakenings #HATM
unlabelledView post →Totally charming with Robin Williams in ‘Awakenings’…great movie, great cast!
unlabelledView post →#awakenings was a great movie #filmmaking #behindthecamera #behindthescenes🎬
unlabelledView post →Final Thoughts: Awakenings is a superbly directed, written, cast, and acted movie about one doctor's attempts to treat long-term mental patients. Robin William's experiments with a drug appears to turn Robert De Niro back to normal. Yet it failed in the end. Have tissues nearby. #hatm
unlabelledView post →This is an interesting discussion for a film like this - the portrayal can lend empathy and raise awareness, but there is a question of exploitation that comes from this...but then, would it be more exploitative to cast someone with the condition in this role? #Awakenings #HATM
unlabelledView post →One of my first publications was on the phenomenology of disability & I wrote about Sacks’s illness narrative A LEG TO STAND ON. AWAKENINGS is also a phenomenology of disability. The film visualizes that. #HATM
unlabelledView post →Mit seinen Geschichten, die er als „romantic science“ bezeichnete, bringt er aussergewöhnliche neurologische Fälle dem Leser humorvoll näher, am bekanntesten sind „Der Mann, der seine Frau mit einem Hut verwechselte“ und „Awakenings“, auch als Film mit Robert de Niro und Robin Williams.
unlabelledView post →The first day #Ottawa gets to room temperature outside is like the movie Awakenings. We will be regressing into our homes again on Monday.
unlabelledView post →@omacolt.bsky.social #MarchMovieChallenge March 14 Scientist in a movie Dr Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) Robert de Niro (Leonard Lowe) ‘Awakenings’ 1990
unlabelledView post →Awakenings is one of, if not my favorite Robin Williams movie!
unlabelledView post →The doctors think Mitch McConnell's diagnosis is final. Then Dr. Trump walks in... and immediately changes it. 🧠 AFAKENINGS ▶️ youtu.be/c8FgeJx_g6Y #Trump #PoliticalSatire #Awakenings #AIFunnies #Comedy #MovieParody ]
unlabelledView post →Awakenings. Such an underrated movie. I’ve watched it many, many times and it always makes me cry. Stars Robin Williams and Robert Di Nero.
unlabelledView post →For #JulyMovieChallenge CATCH UP for @omacolt.bsky.social Day 21... Favourite Robin Williams movie.... Awakenings... makes me sob every time, in this biopic, his role is based on Oliver Sacks... weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/a...
unlabelledView post →Choose 20 films that have stayed with you or influenced you. One film per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations no reviews, just gifs or images. Day 1: Awakenings
unlabelledView post →Leonard's becoming the capo of the ward. Suddenly it's a Scorsese film. #Awakenings #HATM
unlabelledView post →#JulyMovieChallenge by @omacolt.bsky.social #Filmsky July 21 – Favourite Robin Williams movie AWAKENINGS boxd.it/1USu
unlabelledView post →Oh boy oh boy they're making a He-Man movie so many Skeletor Gay Awakenings (TM) are coming.
unlabelledView post →Loved this episode. In thinking of other bad medicalish films for you to review: > Five Feet Apart > John Q > Lorenzo’s Oil Some better ones: > Awakenings > The Knick (ok, not a movie) > Concussion > Something The Lord Made
unlabelledView post →I have loved this man since his early standup. The movie Awakenings moved me so much. I like to believe that was the real Robin, the compassion wasn't acting, it was real.
unlabelledView post →Jumanji was so good. I think my favorite movie of his would be Awakenings.
unlabelledView post →Gave my mom a sativa gummy and it’s like the movie “Awakenings” around here.
unlabelledView post →Oh, I remember that one! Affected me, too. The movie Awakenings is similar and just as heartbreaking.
unlabelledView post →Without saying Mirse Doubtfire fav Robin Williams Film. Mine is Awakenings, with Rober De Niro & Anna Meara (Ben Stiller's mum for anyone who doesn't know that.)
unlabelledView post →Since I can't think of performing Shakespeare without thinking of RENAISSANCE MAN, the essential director for the Ides of March is Penny Marshall, one of the first #WomenDirectors to have a film nominated for Best Picture (AWAKENINGS). #WomensHistoryMonth #15 #Filmsky 📽️ 🧵 [16/32]
unlabelledView post →We love this photo of Oliver Sacks with the great Robin Williams. Robin played Oliver in the 1990 film Awakenings and the two of them became close friends. Williams credited his role in “Awakenings” as a gift, as it allowed him to meet Sacks and delve into the workings of the human brain.
unlabelledView post →TIL that Vin Diesel made his film debut in ‘Awakenings’
unlabelledView post →anyone who has seen the movie Awakenings should know that there is long Influenza...
unlabelledView post →For #JulyMovieChallenge by @omacolt.bsky.social catch up... #Filmsky #Moviesky Day 21 July 21... Favourite Robin Williams movie... Awakenings... as a sympathetic, gentle and inspiring doctor. weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/a...
unlabelledView post →Today is Robin Williams’ birthday! QTP with a favorite movie of his. Dead Poet's Society followed closely by Awakenings and The World According to Garp. The man had passion equal to his sense of humor which made him so damn good in every role he played.
unlabelledView post →Name your fav Robin Williams film. Awakenings
unlabelledView post →My favorite film performances from the 1990s. Robin Williams, Dr. Malcolm Sawyer, "Awakenings" (directed by Penny Marshall). #movies #films #favoriteperformances #robinwilliams #awakenings #pennymarshall
unlabelledView post →#EdwardsMovieCharacterChallenge2025 November 11 - movie character who is in a catatonic state Leonard Lowe - Awakenings #filmsky #moviesky
unlabelledView post →There was a correlation with cardiac mortality and a neurological disorder called encephalitis lethargica. It has Parkinson's like features. The movie "Awakenings" was based on this condition. Other psychiatric disorders less so.
unlabelledView post →It's not even his film, but Awakenings with De Niro. Joint left me crestfallen after it was over.
unlabelledView post →
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