Sleep (2023)

Dull Writing and Insane Characters

While there are some Horror movies that have alluded to various religions, and have done them successfully (The Wailing), "Sleep" seems to presume the audience is already familiar and sympathetic with Shamanism and Buddhism, including their esoteric rituals and practices without any justification or explanation. As a result, those unfamiliar with these practices will find the character's behavior off-putting and their responses bizarre. For example, in one instance, the priestess starts ringing her bell loudly to deter the supposed demon possessing the husband. However, she also approaches the baby and starts to violently ring a bell against the baby's ears causing it to wail. Both the ML and FL, who are apparently skeptics at this point in the movie, don't consider at any point to perhaps engage this shenanigan without the baby? Rather, the delirious and sleep deprived FL becomes more convinced by the shaman's antics, while the ML gets slightly agitated and shields the baby, but does not assume that the unruly practice might either traumatize or harm the baby. At this point, the realism of the story is lost for me because none characters are acting as how normal people and purported skeptics would: bothered and protective.
When we get to final segment of the movie, there is an interesting dilemma of whether the protagonist is suffering from paranoia or whether her husband is genuinely possessed. While interesting, it was, unfortunately, poorly executed. To convince the demon to leave, the protagonist not only kills the neighbor's dog, but kidnaps the neighbor and threatens to drill a hole in the neighbor's skull. What is the neighbor's response to all these violent acts against her? That the demon should stop possessing the husband...
Initially, I thought, perhaps the neighbor was simply pretending to go along with the protagonist's hysteria to preserve her own life. But then, the neighbor begins to converse with the husband as if he were really her dad, begs him to leave, and promises she would perform ancestral rites for him. There is not a single indication that the neighbor is performing an act, but rather we see both the neighbor and the protagonist believing the husband is possessed, insistent, and seemingly justifying FL's previously fanatic behavior to expunge the demon.
For any rational person, whether religious or not, this is incredibly abnormal behavior and dialogue. Suppose you were a devout Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. and someone kidnapped you because the kidnapper believed your parent's spirit/demon was haunting her or her family member. Wouldn't the initial reaction always be: This person is insane; please stop her? Wouldn't you try to reason with the kidnapper when given the opportunity to? Apparently, not in this movie.
And without surprise, it turns out the husband was actually possessed..! Thus, the implied message in the ending is: everything was justified and peace has returned... Yikes.
There are other unconvincing behaviors in the movie as well, such as the wife's wanting to ignore and put up with her husband's strangeness because of an arbitrary signpost that he crafted: "Together, we can overcome everything!" Ah yes, that's why I should allow my husband near my baby even though he accidentally killed my fur-baby because, apparently, we can overcome this situation together by jeopardizing my baby's life? No pain, no gain; no risk, no reward! I genuinely don't understand what sort of rationale, if any, was in this writer's mind when creating this nonsense.
It's a shame because I think the movie would had a lot more potential if it went with a psychological than a supernatural direction, or if it was not written by a religious extremist, since the possibility that the husband acted as a demon (for he is an actor, though merely an extra) in the end could have been a perfectly tenable theory. That is, until it is squandered and crushed by every other character's reaction.
All in all, the writing is mediocre, the story was decent, the acting was great, and it had its thrilling moments. It is a fun movie, but it is far from outstanding.

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In honor of Lee Sun Kyun... one of the reasons I fell in love with dramas.

I've recently taken a break from dramas and writing reviews while mourning the loss of someone very close to me but it was learning about the tragic passing of Lee Sun Kyun that kept me up tonight and ironically led to me staying up to watch "Sleep". I have been a fan of Lee Sun Kyun since "Coffee Prince", and missed all of the recent scandal and drama while caught up in my own personal sadness, so this has been a truly shocking evening. Maybe that's why this simple yet disturbing psychological horror story resonated with me. How your mind can play tricks on you when you're in a heightened emotional state is always a concept that fascinates me and adding a sleep disorder to that makes it even more interesting. This drama walks the fine line between familiar horror tropes that just work well with direction and visuals that are fresh and memorable. It was also the perfect film for the mood I'm currently in... something sadly disturbing and haunting.

Lee Sun Kyun has portrayed so many roles that I have loved and this one isn't necessarily a standout among them, but he is definitely in his element. He plays Hyun Soo, an aspiring Actor who lives with his super supportive and very pregnant wife Soo Jin played by Jung Yu Mi. Their relationship seems pretty ideal until Hyun Soo's disturbing actions while asleep put major stress on their lives. I love that the way things slowly evolve is so realistic and that's what made it so disturbing to me. Yes, there are some classic horror moments including possibly animals and kids being hurt, but that's pretty much par for the course in a horror movie as far as I'm concerned, although this movie never goes overboard with over-the-top blood or comes close to anything truly gorey. In true psychological horror fashion, it's more about setting up a creepy atmosphere with many of the horrors implied and without being so abstract that you lose the actual story.

As for the story, I thought it was well told, with an ending that will probably leave a lot of room for debate. I thought I knew exactly how the story would go, but the start of Act 3 caught me off guard. I wouldn't call it a mindblowing ending by any means but it was an interesting ride and for me a satisfying conclusion... at least my interpretation of what happened.

Would I watch this again? Yes. I am a fan of horror and this is one that was entertaining to watch with a great cast and great direction even if it's not necessarily groundbreaking. Other Lee Sun Kyun fans may not be in the mood to see him playing someone going through so much mental agony just yet, which I understand too.

Overall, I am glad I stayed up to watch "Sleep". It reminded me of classic horror movies like "Rosemary's Baby", with quite a few images that will keep me up a little longer. People looking for a horror film with epic twists, major jumpscares, or diabolical villains will likely be disappointed. I liked the concept of one's mind possibly being the real horror... or not. Or the horror of not having control over your actions, which legit freaks me out. Could there have been improvements? Sure. Could some parts of the story use some more depth and explanation? Sure. But as is, I think this movie still delivers.

***Thank you Lee Sun Kyun, for bringing such ease of talent to so many great roles. You will be missed. Sleep in Peace : (

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