'Sleep' Reviews: "Writer-director Jason Yu and his sharp cast keep things funny and warm as the nastiness creeps in, unsettling us in ways that cut to the bone"

         On September 27, 2024, Magnet Releasing released 'Sleep', which has earned predominantly positive reviews from critics, currently holding at 94% Recent on Rotten Tomatoes. "SLEEP follows newlyweds Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun, PARASITE) and Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi), whose domestic bliss is disrupted when Hyun-su begins speaking in his sleep, ominously stating, "Someone's inside." From that night on, whenever he falls asleep, Hyun-su transforms into someone else, with no recollection of what happened the night before. Overwhelmed with anxiety that he may hurt himself or their young family, Soo-jin can barely sleep because of this irrational fear. Despite treatment, Hyun-su's sleepwalking only intensifies, and Soo-jin begins to feel that her unborn child may be in danger." Read the full review round-up below.

       Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall says, "Writer-director Jason Yu and his sharp cast keep things funny and warm as the nastiness creeps in, unsettling us in ways that cut to the bone. So even if the story as a whole feels somewhat unfinished, it still leaves us shaken." Continuing, "The actors are so natural that they feel like real people. Even their more extreme reactions are easy to identify with, which adds to the suspense. Jung and Lee are also thoroughly likeable, so we root for both of them to overcome this together, as a sign on their wall encourages them to do. But it also becomes clear that the danger isn't only coming from the spirit realm. Meanwhile, each of the supporting roles feels bracingly realistic, including the psychic who arrives to give them a reading."

       Alistair Harkness of Scotsman notes, "Seasoned gore-hounds might not find it scary or bloody enough to disturb their own sleep, but there are still some properly jumpy moments that mark Yu out as a director to watch." Continuing, "Debut writer/director Jason Yu (who got his start working for Bong Joon-ho) is pretty adept here at melding humour and horror, ending the first chapter with a gloriously bad-taste escalation of Hyun-su’s nighttime activity before shifting gears with the second chapter, which takes place after Soo-jin gives birth and sees her own mental state disintegrating as deep-rooted fears about her baby’s safety start plaguing her own sleep and waking moments. The switch in perspective gives the film an added charge as this hitherto happy and trusting couple’s sudden paranoia about the other is amplified by the everyday stresses of having a newborn. As anyone who’s had one will know, a baby will test even the most solid of relationships and the film has sly fun challenging the mantra Hyun-su and Soo-jin have etched on a panel on their wall — “Together we can overcome anything” — by filtering their increasingly freaky experiences through the frazzled psyche of new parents operating on minimal sleep."

       Adam Sweeting of The Arts Desk writes, "Yu steers his film deftly to a turbulent climax, though after all that’s gone before his conclusion feels a little too tidy, not quite the cathartic eruption that he seemed to be leading us towards."

Photo Courtesy of Magnet Releasing

        Peter Bradshaw of Guardian praises the film, stating, "Kim Gook-hee gives an amusing, unsettling performance as their neighbour Min jeong who has a brattish son: she gets a dog exactly like theirs, something which Soo-jin interprets as an intolerable insult, for reasons she can’t fully explain. The movie expertly hits funny notes and light-relief moments that give us a break from fear while promising more to come, while the couple’s relationship with this ambiguously friendly neighbour is effectively managed. It is only with the explicit possibility of a supernatural explanation, combined with full-on psychiatric breakdown, that the movie loses its light touch and its plausible detail. Yet there’s always a hyper-vigilant twinge of fear."