Sleep
This shape-shifting film from Korea – part horror, part black comedy, part mystery – keeps you guessing until its wild and hilarious finale
Wikipedia categorises the debut feature from Jason Yu as a 'black comedy horror mystery thriller.' It’s a clunky mess of a genre descriptor that just happens to be 100% correct.
Sleep takes place almost entirely inside the apartment of young couple Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) and Hyeon-Soo (Lee Sun-kyun). There’s a lived-in cosiness to their home, an intimacy that’s reinforced by the cheerful chemistry between the two leads. They seem blissfully happy until Hyeon-soo starts acting oddly in his sleep. At first, it’s just a bit of ominous mumbling, but pretty soon he’s devouring the contents of their fridge, scratching himself raw and menacing their beloved dog, Pepper. With a baby on the way, Soo-jin starts to wonder just how dangerous this slumbering, zombified version of her husband might be. But are Hyeon-soo’s nocturnal activities as sinister as Soo-jin thinks? Or are these sleepless nights beginning to mess with her head? Could there be a supernatural explanation to it all? And what exactly is the deal with the passive-aggressive lady who lives downstairs?
Sleep keeps us guessing, not just about the details of the plot but about the genre it’s operating in. It looks like a darkly funny relationship drama one moment and a nerve-racking ghost story the next, Yu tilting the picture and changing our perspective with each new twist in the tale. And then he pays it all off with a showstopping finale where all of our ideas about what this story might be come crashing together in the most striking, shocking, hilarious way.
Released 12 Jul by Curzon; certificate 15