Simply Perfect

Fresh and Exciting

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Personally, I am very skeptical of these types of claims and there were a few things that stood out. First off, he claims he can see angels, demons, spirits, etc., and he does give a vague explanation of what he sees, but he doesn't get into enough detail. For example, he does not explain how he can tell the difference between an angel and a demon. Also, are any of these spirits comforting or do they all creep him out? I really would have liked more detail and focus on what he actually experiences but I felt like a lot of it was glossed over because of his discomfort on the subject matter (to which I ask, why bother making a documentary?). During the scene in the psychiatrists office, he claims there is a woman behind the psychiatrist but is unwilling or unable to describe what she looks like. If he can see her, why not try and describe her? If he can not describe her, how does he know it's a woman? So, as a viewer, we are supposed to just believe that a woman is standing there without any elaboration whatsoever. He doesn't even attempt to find a possible connection between the woman and the psychiatrist.After finishing the movie, I have no better understanding of what he experiences and why than the very brief description at the beginning of the movie. I don't see how he (or the viewers) got any answers from what he did/the people he visited. The movie felt like it had more of a focus on religion and/or spirituality than his "gift" and I don't understand why he is uncomfortable using sage in his house yet he fits right in with Buddhist monks and was elated about his vision quest in the woods.All in all, I do not feel this is worth watching. I am interested in watching a documentary about someone who has a "gift" like this however I am not interested in watching some random guy find his religion.

It hit me pretty early on that this was most probably not a "legitimate" documentary but something more along the lines of Joaquin Phoenix'a "I'm Still Here". Still the concept was interesting. Personally I enjoyed the "spiritual journey" aspect that would have been interesting even without the premise of his sixth sense. A reviewer here implied, in so many words, that the film came off as one big advertisement for new age philosophy, etc. I didn't see it that way. On the contrary, Elrod's reactions to practically all of the "mystics" was one of befuddlement, confusion, cynicism and resignation that the journey had not ended...and perhaps it's a paradox that he "found enlightenment" not with modern esoteric theology but in the ancient wisdom of the Native American. On the contrary, I got the impression that some of the new age practices were being skewered. I mean, how foolish do grown men and women look shooting arrows at targets with blindfolds on their eyes??? I give the film a seven because it was interesting and a decent, if concise introduction to unorthodox belief systems. It held my attention.

It was interesting reading one of the other reviews on here that hits on how fraudulent Elrod seems in the first half of this documentary. I felt exactly the same way - that Elrod is a guy who either lives in a fantasy prone world or is outright hoaxing to make a quick buck. In fact I felt this way so much that after the first 30 minutes or so I kind of quit watching and started surfing the net on my computer instead while the documentary kept playing to itself in the background.I'm glad I didn't turn it off.Around the hour mark the documentary takes a turn, with Elrod heading out on a sort of spiritual quest, and gradually it caught my attention again. All talk of what he purportedly experiences goes away and instead he's just shown exploring a variety of spiritual groups from a new age mind control retreat, to a Buddhist center and finally a Native American vision quest in the forest.Ultimately the film becomes a message that all spiritual pursuits are probably just stumbling attempts pointing towards a single truth of the human condition. Elrod doesn't purport to comprehend this truth (he just calls it God) but he seems joyful enough to have come to the realization that it can't help but make the viewer feel a little uplifted with him.I should note that I'm agnostic bordering on atheism and I take vehement offense at any film that tries to preach to me. "Wake Up" did not, so even though the Christian concept of God is discussed through the first half of the film as Elrod's primary belief system, this is not a documentary that proselytizes in any way... so all you atheists out there are safe. So if you watch the documentary to the end, the question of whether Elrod is hoaxing or not kind of becomes moot. It becomes apparent that this is a film about human nature, inclusion and interconnectedness instead. It's about a journey away from organized religion and towards personal spirituality. Elrod may be a fictional protagonist heading towards this conclusion or he may legitimately believe in his experiences but it doesn't really matter because it still makes for a fairly engaging quest.

I'm surprised there are no other reviews on here. I'll be brief. This film did not impress, and the subject matter struck me as a fakery almost right away.As far as the craft of making a documentary film, there is very little here. Docs need skilled hands just like narratives do. Shooting things on a camcorder and cutting it together does not automatically a documentary film make.As far as the subject matter is concerned, if someone is making claims to be able to see the supernatural (angels, demons, ghosts, etc.) then that person should not be the director of the film. Don't ya think? That's a little bit of a conflict of interest.An even-handed approach to this would have been nice; an objective point of view from a third party filmmaker may have made this watchable. Instead, viewing the subject / director, Jonas, turn the camera on himself as he sits in front of the psychiatrist with this self-deprecating, dismissive schtick about seeing spirits only seemed like a performance.I believe Jonas is lying, and that this is a hoax. But even "hoax" is too big of a word. This is just a guy pretending. The giveaway, for me, is in his put-on cavalier attitude. He continually downplays what is happening to him, acting as though it is embarrassing. He is a very subdued character, shuffling around and mumbling about how he feels goofy burning sage because it is "new age." The film takes a chance and tries to show the viewers something like Jonas is claiming to see. These are CGI "spirits" which float around some people on a New York City street. They look like colored paper underwater, or like the teleporter characters in the X men movies. This could have been a nice touch in a better film, but here, it's only a reminder that we're not actually going to be able to see anything Jonas claims to see, because it doesn't exist. At least, not for him.I give Jonas a little credit for putting this into place with a back story about "how it all happened" - he basically planted seeds for a while before making the doc. This is the only crafty thing I found about his synthetic story.And I have one admission: I didn't make it through the whole film. I got maybe halfway. So maybe in the second half I would have become a believer. I would have stuck around had the crafting of the film been better.