There’s one thing that everybody who snores has in common: the belief that their snoring is nowhere near as bad as what other people make it out to be, if they can admit to themselves they snore at all. It causes friction on a nightly basis in millions of relationships, and as a result, makes for a relatable entry point into a high-concept thriller – we don’t know what happens when we sleep, but can we totally trust those unfortunate to sleep beside us to tell us the truth without exaggeration? Director Jason Yu’s stylish debut Sleep, finally receiving a UK release more than a year after its premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, is at its best when examining how that mundane conflict can create a growing wedge between partners, one of whom will be forever disoriented because of the many sleepless nights they have to suffer through. 

This is the central conflict that grounds the otherwise very knowingly over-the-top movie, which stars Jung Yu-mi and Lee Sun-kyun (in one of his final films made prior to his untimely passing last year) as lower-middle-class couple Soo-jin and Hyeon-soo, who are awaiting their first child together. Hyeon-soo is a bit-part actor, newly cast in a role in which he’s expected to take part in night shoots; one day before the start of filming, he scratches his skin violently while sleeping, leaving a bruise makeup can’t cover up. The next night, Soo-jin catches him sleepwalking to the kitchen, eating raw meat from the fridge and almost flinging himself over their balcony. A visit to the hospital sleep clinic doesn’t immediately help stop this aggressive unconscious behaviour, but with a baby on the way, Soo-jin quickly becomes paranoid that he’ll harm it during the night if a cure isn’t found. 

Jung’s performance as the family’s matriarch is the strongest; it’s not subtle, but there is a joy at seeing the way she slowly but surely unravels mentally thanks to the incessant restlessness caused by new parenthood and a partner she must always supervise. However, it’s when the film is framed through this character’s eyes where Yu’s film doesn’t fully live up to its potential, teasing out the idea that she’s a less reliable narrator than initially assumed, only to rid the film of all ambiguity at the first possible moment. As she experiences a lack of sleep, she’s also playing detective, trying to uncover any strange behaviour she missed overnight through the testimonies of rudely awakened neighbours.

Naturally, a mental breakdown manifests over the course of the second half, but the writer/director still wants the audience to accept everything at face value; there are no rug pulls that inform us that we’ve been witnessing events from a skewed perspective, which makes for a less invigorating drama. As warped as certain points of view may initially appear, we are never required to question them – a more ambiguous approach that would make the audience interrogate the film’s reality would have transformed a good film into something approaching a great one. 

This is a particular shame, because the direction of the third act – straying almost entirely away from the darkly comic thriller territory into more overt horror pastiche – would reward such an approach handsomely. Without spoiling later narrative revelations, it feels strange that the movie would definitively state the outcome of its narrative with clarity when diving headfirst into a genre that typically requires its characters to take leaps of faith. It’s enjoyably outlandish territory at face value, and also deserves credit for not losing track of its characters’ mundane personalities in even their most extreme states – a particular highlight is Real Estate agent Soo-jin making a PowerPoint presentation to prove that she’s not crazy, even though a quick glance around their flat would suggest otherwise. 

It’s far from perfect – and I don’t quite understand what Bong Joon-ho has seen in it to label it “the most unique horror film and the smartest debut film” he’s seen in the past decade – but there is plenty to enjoy here. A stylish, attention-grabbing debut from a storyteller who needs to take a little more time to finesse his next outing. 

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Written by Alistair Ryder

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