‘Sleep’ Will Be Frighteningly Familiar to New Parents [Review]

Being pregnant is horrifying enough without your partner falling apart to the extent that he’s sleepwalking, sleep-eating, and even sleep-causing-harm-to-himself-and-others. That’s the premise of Sleep, the tight, albeit somewhat modest, debut feature from Korean writer-director Jason Yu. While awaiting the birth of their daughter, a sweet young couple is plagued by a terrifying sleep disorder that renders the husband, Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun), unable to control himself during the night. It’s difficult to contend with while poor Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) is expecting, but once the baby actually arrives the situation becomes less about protecting herself and more about ensuring Hyun-su doesn’t injure or even kill the poor child while he’s not even conscious.

Sleep plays on the horrors of helplessness 

Sleep cleverly plays off a lot of new parent fears and could easily be taken as a metaphor for the kind of intrusive thoughts that plague new moms, in particular. Due to sleep deprivation, stress, postpartum depression, and everything in between, many of us worry that we’re going to somehow end up murdering our little bundles of joy by dropping them or throwing them in front of a moving car, even though we’d never dream of intentionally doing something like that. It’s a horrible position to be in, not being in control of your own thoughts–especially about someone you love and care about so much. Yu taps into that idea through an increasingly desperate Soo-jin without presenting her as the villain or, worse yet, just another mad woman.

The writer-director, and his lead actress, have an enormous amount of empathy for this struggling new mother who can’t even rely on her husband to take the night shift lest something terrible should happen. At one point, Soo-jin checks both the freezer and a giant, boiling pot of water bubbling away on the hob for her missing baby only for an oblivious Hyun-su to emerge from the bathroom cuddling the little girl and congratulating her on an impressively large poop. Although Hyun-su takes his wife’s concerns seriously–the couple immediately goes to see a professional for help with his condition–he’s also kind of nonchalant about the whole thing, like a lot of new dads who are trying to put a positive spin on an increasingly desperate situation. He’s not being careless per se, just proactive. Hyun-su even sleeps in a giant, slug-like sleeping bag to prevent him from breaking free and causing havoc and is willing to nap in the car too if necessary.

This tale of the terrifying side of parenthood is deftly handled

Sleep could easily have been exploitative if handled with less sure hands, but at every stage Yu ensures our loyalties remain with the central couple and their adorable baby. It’s incredibly refreshing to see a loving, supportive couple onscreen, as sad as it sounds, and as much as we expect them to be torn apart (since otherwise there’s no story) the way in which everything comes full circle is both satisfying and a massive relief. Considering this is the kind of movie where a so-called psychic arrives at the couple’s wonderfully lived in apartment–the set dressing is exceptional throughout, with tons of cool detailing, especially during a final act sequence where everything is bathed in red light and the available surfaces are covered in eye-catching posters–and spouts off about evil forces, Sleep could’ve been yet another rote paranormal shocker with an evil woman at its core.

It helps that the two lead performances are naturalistic and the couple’s harsh situation is presented without a shred of melodrama. Hyun-su is a struggling actor (whose goal in life is supported 100% by his wife, it must be said) who could be faking it as a way to get into character, especially since he seems to be fast asleep after initially scaring Soo-jin. There’s a reference to him practicing a line that Hyun-su has been struggling to nail down, which adds an air of artifice that leaves us questioning whether what we’re witnessing is real, in Soo-jin’s mind, a result of extreme stress and lack of rest, or something else entirely. Wisely, Yu doesn’t rely on the tried-and-tested formula of rattling shelves or strange noises in the night. He drip-feeds us pertinent info right up until the film’s final moments, all the while with a sign that Hyun-su made for his wife, reading “Together we can overcome anything,” looming so prominently that it starts to feel like it’s mocking them.

The final verdict on Sleep:

Chapter breaks slow things down somewhat, although they’re used sparingly here, thankfully, leaving Sleep to unravel gradually, its secrets spilling out as both Hyun-su and Soo-jin try to make sense of what’s happening and each deal with it in their own specific ways. The movie could be taken as a metaphor for intrusive thoughts or the more general horrors of becoming a new parent but even without any of that additional context, this is a spooky, sad, and hugely impactful tale of a couple’s cozy, humble home life being torn apart by forces they can’t understand.

Catch Sleep in theaters and on digital from September 27, 2024.

WICKED RATING: 8/10
Director(s): Jason Yu
Writer(s): Jason Yu
Stars: Lee Sun-kyun, Jung Yu-mi
Release date: September 27, 2024
Language: Korean
Run Time: 95 minutes

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