Centering on the stories of five young individuals from the Philippines, "The Moment I Wake" is a documentary film looking into the phenomenon of sleep paralysis, a sleeping disorder where the person undergoes an inability to speak or move any muscles during the transitions of wakefulness to sleep or vice versa, causing fear and panic.

By giving both an informative look into the condition through interviews with experts, as well as a visual interpretation of the accounts of the victims themselves, the film aims to provide the audience a more in-depth understanding of how terrifying and severe the experience of sleep paralysis can be, its association with the Filipino folk term, "bangungot", and finally, how it can be dealt with by those who suffer from it.