Awakenings is a 1990 drama film based on the true story of an unorthodox doctor trying to cure a sleeping disorder that struck in the 1920s. The film stars Robert De Niro as Leonard Lowe, a patient on which Doctor Malcolm Sayer, played by Robin Williams, is given permission to test a new drug. After ingesting the drug, the teenage patient awakes as an adult. The movie is based on a memoir of the same name written by Oliver Sacks.