Being mentored by not just one of South Korea’s best filmmakers, but an award-winning auteur of this generation, wasn’t a bad way for Jason Yu to start his career. Serving as an assistant director for Bong Joon Ho’s Okja, it’s clear that in Yu’s directorial debut, Sleep, the influence of the Parasite director is engrained within this darkly comedic, yet eerily atmospheric psychological thriller, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
Awakening one night to the site of her husband, Hyun-Su (Lee Sun-kyun), sitting at the end of the bed, but still unconscious to the world, Soo-jin (Jung Yu-Mi), an expectant wife, is eerily disturbed when in his sleepy state, Hyun-su states: “someone’s inside”.
As Hyun-su’s sleepwalking habits becomes more and more nightmarish, Soo-jin relentlessly begins to find a solution to her husband’s problem as the fear for her, and her unborn child’s, safety continues to grow. But the lines between reality and nightmares begin to blur for Soo-jin as her own sleeplessness takes over.
With a handful of solid jump scares and an unsettling atmosphere being established right from Sleep’s opening scene, Jason Yu’s ability to maintain the tension right until the white-knuckle finale comes from a solid mixture of a well thought-out, simple premise, interesting characters, rapid pacing, and a strong visual aesthetic that has this dreary, sleep-state sort of feeling.
Soo-jin’s investigative nature forces the audience to join along for the ride, often centring her and us right in the thick of the creepiness. However, much like the work of Bong Joon Ho, there is a hilarious tinge of melodrama to the story. Soo-jin’s justified reactions to Hyun-su’s behaviour are so well put on show by Jung Yu-Mi’s camply committed performance. The balance of genuine fear, but complete “mum” energy when it comes to trying to get to the bottom of this issue often work hand in hand with each other, despite the tonal differences.
It’s unfortunate that Sleep was the final role for actor Lee Sun-kyun, who passed away in 2023, because his ability to ground his character in this heightened situation is truly a masterclass in acting, as his performance showcases his understanding of playing melodrama with sincerity incredibly well, something that isn’t easy to pull off.
Yu’s script allows for the comedy to be at the forefront as much as the horror of the premise. It’s like Sleep is always trying to make the audience feel conflicted about whether the sleepwalking is ridiculous, or the reactions to the sleepwalking are ridiculous. Each solution to the ever-growing sleepwalk dilemma comedically hits harder and harder with each reveal.
It creates an incredibly entertaining dichotomy in the relationship between the characters and those of us watching what unfolds. While the film’s story is engaging on its own, it feels purpose built for an audience to very vividly react to what is happening on screen. The dream-like, grainy cinematography which has the camera gliding across rooms in a smooth fashion has this hypnotic feeling that is also just as engaging as the film’s plot.
Even outside the fact that this is Jason Yu’s feature film debut, Sleep is an impressive blend of melodramatic comedy and psychological horror that’s blanketed in a relentlessly paced sense of dread. The film’s aesthetic is just as engaging as the characters and the story, which uses an investigative narrative to really bring the audience along for this ride.
Sleep is in US cinemas, and available on digital, on September 27.
