The Movie Awakening is based on a true-life story, of neurologist Oliver Sacks who experiments with the victims of a rare "sleeping sickness" called encephalitis lethargica. Symptoms of encephalitis lethargica can be described by having high fever, sore throat, headache, double vision, delayed physical and mental response, sleep inversion, catatonia and lethargy. More serious cases, patients may enter a coma-like state (akinetic mutism). Patients may also experience abnormal eye movements, Parkinsonism, upper body weakness, muscular pains, tremors, neck rigidity, and behavioral changes including psychosis. The cause of encephalitis lethargica is not known for certain, however, recent research suggests that the disease is due to a massive immune reaction to an infection by the streptococcus-like bacterium, diplococcus.

In the movie a new neurologist is hired at a hospice for the chronicle ill. During his introduction the facility he notice that the patients are suffering from a disease that places them in a catatonic state. This catatonic state entails immobility, lost speech, all of which presents itself as being incurable to many of the physicians of the hospital. Linking all the patients to post-encephalitis he decides to administer L-Dopa to the patient as an attempted treatment to reverse his crippling disorder. Levodopa is used as a prodrug to increase dopamine levels for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, since it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, whereas dopamine itself cannot. Once levodopa has entered the central nervous system (CNS), it is metabolized to dopamine by aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase.
His experimental use of the drug, L-Dopa resulted in the dramatic re-awakening of patients from a decades long state of paralyzed unresponsiveness. This revelation came with a heavy price, as the effects of the drug gradually diminished, and the patients slowly degenerated back into their frozen state. This film reveals how valuable life can be, and gives an appreciation for the simple things that we sometimes take for granted.