A lack of sleep is the fastest path to a decline in mental health. The body requires sleep so that it has the opportunity to mend and maintain itself. Our reliance on getting a good slumber is vital and so whenever this most basic of needs comes under attack in films, the audience is hooked. Take A Nightmare on Elm Street for example. Freddy Krueger is a formidable foe, but it is the concept of sleep becoming a dangerous playground that unsettles the viewer. Sleeplessness is often utilised within horror as an indicator of the dwindled sanity of a character, and whilst some are happy to keep this a symptom, in Jason Yu’s Sleep, the entire film is built around a lack of rest.
Pregnant Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) and her actor husband, Hyun-su (the late Lee Sun-kyun), live an idyllic life in their apartment with their pomeranian, Pepper. Then one night, Hyun-su startles Soo-jin as he awakens and utters the chilling phrase, ‘someone’s inside.’ A quick sweep of the dwelling proves fruitless, but as nocturnal incidents continue to occur – such as Hyun-su almost scratching his face off and eating piles of raw meat – Soo-jin begins to suspect a more paranormal origin of the unsettling activities.
Set almost entirely within the confines of the apartment, with the bulk of the action unfolding at night, Jason Yu’s film is a claustrophobic nightmare. Sleep is precious; witnessing Soo-jin become increasingly more unhinged and frantic about the source of her husband’s plight is compelling viewing. Jung Yu-mi’s performance is mesmerising as she effortlessly draws the viewer into her ever-dissolving mind. Countering her is a more measured performance from Lee Sun-kyun as the oblivious vessel. Hyun-su is not quite as disbelieving as the American archetypal horror husband, but his resolve is that it’s merely a sleep disorder that can be fixed via medicine. The constant battle for him to accept something more sinister, especially when he is the potential victim, is an interesting angle to take.
Split into three chapters, Sleep slowly pushes its way to a dramatic and chilling final act. Before then, Jason Yu ensures that there are plenty of frightful sequences for the viewer as he expertly plays on fears of things that go bump in the night. Yu also teases and torments both the pet owners and parents in the audience with both Pepper and Soo-jin’s child placed into harm’s way. The director is so masterful at building unease and tension that the threat against these two characters will be more than some can bear, especially for anyone who has recently viewed The Coffee Table.
As wonderfully crafted as some of the scare sequences are, and as fun as the climax is, the narrative found within Sleep is a fairly generic one. This does not distract from the excellent tension building and compelling performances, but its more predictable story elements deflate the viewer’s response slightly. Nonetheless, with Sleep Jason Yu has crafted an engaging entry for horror based around sleep deprivation.
Sleep
Summary
First there was Wes Craven, and now comes Jason Yu, whose film Sleep offers further nightmare fuel for the insomniacs of the world.
Sleep was reviewed at Raindance 2024.
