Woken arrives on UK digital platforms today, 25 May, bringing Erin Kellyman (Willow, Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Maxine Peake (Happy Valley, Black Mirror) together for a claustrophobic dystopian sci-fi thriller. Released via 101 Films, the film marks Alan Friel’s feature directorial debut.
The film follows Anna, played by Kellyman, a heavily pregnant woman who wakes up on a remote island with no memory of who she is, where she is or the baby she is carrying. Around her are unfamiliar faces who claim to know her, including her husband James, played by Ivanno Jeremiah, and neighbour Helen, played by Maxine Peake. Corrado Invernizzi also stars as Helen’s husband Peter.
At first, Anna is told she has suffered an accident and must piece her life back together through reassurances, fragments and grainy home videos. But the island’s uneasy calm does not last. As Anna begins to question the version of events being handed to her, she discovers that a pandemic has pushed humanity towards collapse, leaving her trapped inside a story where trust may be the most dangerous thing of all.
Written and directed by Friel, Woken moves between psychological mystery and post-apocalyptic tension, with its sci-fi horror elements building through Anna’s fractured memory. Reviews have pointed to the film’s isolated setting and brooding atmosphere, while Kellyman and Peake help drive the story’s growing sense of paranoia and control as the truth begins to unravel.
For CultureCues, this is exactly the kind of genre release worth keeping an eye on. A remote island, missing memories, a pregnant protagonist and Maxine Peake potentially hiding far more than she is saying? That is a solid set-up for a tense night in. With its mix of pandemic dread, unreliable memories and survival thriller energy, Woken should appeal to viewers who like their sci-fi intimate, eerie and full of suspicion.
Woken is available on UK digital platforms from 25 May 2026.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.