horror, comedy | South Korea | 2023 World premiere: Cannes Film Festival 2023 Polish premiere: Splat!FilmFest
BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT OF THE DECADE ACCORDING TO “PARASITE” DIRECTOR BONG JOON-HO
Bong Joon-ho, director of “Parasite”, has lauded this film as one of the best debuts of the last decade, and it’s not hard to understand why. “Sleep” is a brilliant genre blend – horror intertwines beautifully with black comedy, while a poignant marital drama plays out in the background.
Soo-jin and Hyun-su are newlyweds, who are expecting their first child. Everything seems to be going great – she works in a corporation, while he is climbing the ladder of his acting career. They naively believe that their love will survive any adversity. But will it? When Hyun-su starts sleepwalking, his wife initially blames it on the stress related to imminent fatherhood. But with each passing night, her husband’s behaviour frightens her more and more. Her calm and affectionate sweetheart at night becomes dangerous not only to himself, but also to those closest to him. Could he harm the child? Soo-jin alternates between feeling anxious about her husband and a growing fear for her own safety and that of the baby, until she herself begins to unravel. Exhausted by her nightly vigil, she loses her grip on reality.
“Sleep” scares in a masterful way. The twists and turns are as unpredictable as sleepwalker’s steps, and director, Jason Yu, makes wonderful use of familiar horror cinema tropes to tell a story that is fresh, original and terrifying.
director: Jason Yu screenwriter: Jason Yu cast: Jung Yu-mi, Lee Sun-kyun photography: Tae-soo Kim editor: ae-soo Kim music: Yong Jin Chang, Chang Hyuk-jin duration: 1h 35min language: Korean subtitles: English, Polish recommended age: 16+
