THE STORY – A young, expectant wife must figure out how to stop her husband’s nightmarish sleepwalking habits before he harms himself or his family.
THE CAST – Jung Yu-mi, Lee Sun-kyun, Kim Gook-hee & Yoon Kyung-ho
THE TEAM – Jason Yu (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 95 Minutes
There’s something inherently unnerving about the concept of sleeping. To put oneself in a brief vegetative state with no conscious ability to defend oneself is one of those everyday occurrences that’s actually quite spooky upon reflection. Jason Yu’s new film, “Sleep,” explores the idea that while a person slumbers, they are not only in a defenseless state but may even be a danger to others through their unconscious actions. It’s a shocking and strangely funny film that married couples may find more relatable than expected.
“Sleep” follows a young married couple – the pregnant Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) and working actor Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun). One day, Hyun-su utters an ominous phrase in his sleep –“Someone’s inside” – alarming Soo-jin. This sets off an escalating series of nighttime misadventures wherein Hyun-su walks, talks, eats, and even self-harms, all while ostensibly fast asleep. The couple must get to the bottom of his dangerous behavior before it poses an actual threat to Soo-jin and her unborn child.
At least one of the members of the central pair is onscreen the entire film, if not both, meaning they have to remain a captivating presence from start to finish. Luckily, both actors are up to the challenge. Lee is charming and energetic while awake and appropriately creepy while asleep. His likeability is essential, as the film hinges on his wife wanting to stay with him and not run away at the first sign of danger. The couple repeatedly refers to a wood carving that hangs on their wall, which reads, “Together We Can Overcome Anything,” and the audience must buy that the pair actually believes that. Jung’s performance sells that desperation – she steadfastly wants to find a solution to their problem, and she displays a specific type of frightened exhaustion that can only be reached on the extreme edge of sleep issues. When the restless anxiety ramps up for her character, Jung leans into it with a quality approaching uncanny. It’s hard to not want to step through the screen and help her.
Yu displays an adept ability to manipulate tone throughout the film. A feeling of dread runs throughout, but that doesn’t mean he’s against using darkly comedic beats to balance the tone and add to the sense of realism. These variations help keep the film moving at an efficient pace. Similarly, his smooth, well-placed camera captures the couple’s lives with an omnipresence that, like so much of the film, feels disquieting.
“Sleep” punctuates its narrative with brief, shocking moments that disrupt both the characters’ lives and the film’s energy, effectively placing the audience into the couple’s turbulent shared life. But even at its most extreme moments, it manages to serve as a metaphor for the difficulties that come with sharing a life with a partner. Interests diverge, habits collide, and lifestyles grate, but overcoming those differences can only make a couple stronger. Hopefully, the hardships suffered by the pair in “Sleep” are the most extreme version of these conflicts, and those watching can achieve a comparatively peaceful cohabitation with their loved ones.
