Olivia Wilde Shouts Wake Up! with Sundance Short

Life in the 21st Century is undoubtedly consumed with millions on smartphones, tablets, laptops, streaming movies and videos on YouTube or simply texting and getting the latest news feed from Twitter.

The art of human communication is becoming lost with the onset invasion of technology encompassing every single solitary second of our lives.  There is no chill and no down time.

Usually, not one to snack on short films, there are two that got me hook, line and sinker, Matthew A. Cherry and Peter Ramsey’s ‘Hair Love’ and Olivia Wilde’s ‘Wake Up,’ with ‘Booksmart’ leading lady Margaret Qualley.

Wake Up, made in collaboration with HP is a fully immersive experience centered on Qualley’s character.  Qualley is a Jane Doe who wakes in a hospital only to discover that the world has become so distracted by their smart phones and computers to look up and see the world around them.  The dialogue is minimal and relies on Qualley’s spectacular acting skill to drive this enormously powerful message.

Don’t get me wrong. Wake-Up is not an anti-technology cinematic anthem.  It rather encourages viewers to re-examine what they are missing while placing so  focus on their phones and computer screens.

A drastic contrast to the high school shenanigans at the forefront of Booksmart, Wilde is taking her reigns as a director serious by teaming up with a technology giant and spreading a much needed reminder that human interaction is necessary and vital.  Technology is cool and definitely convenient, but nothing can replace a good old conversation person to person.  So, the next time you have a lunch date or are hanging with friends, put that phone on mute or leave it in your purse. The world won’t stop and you can resume your regularly scheduled program soon enough.

Wake Up is a reminder to be present, stay present while still embracing the future.  A vital message  that needed to be shouted from the rooftops.  Thanks Olivia!!!