BOARD OF WONDER

Sleep (2023) is a debut film by Jason Yu that was premiered at the 2023 Cannes Critics’ Week and starring Jung Yu-mi and the late Lee Sun-kyun, Sleep as it title is using an ordinary element in daily human life to create unnerving psychological horror film.

Not many as I recall that using this theme, two that stick in me were the iconic Nightmare on Elm Street and Inception, although those 2 were very different film.

Many horror films lean on jump scares and supernatural excess, but Sleep derives its terror from once familiar activity. the domestic, the marital, the nightly rituals we trust to be safe.

This film transforms the mundane habit into something menace for the family. Sleep stands as one of South Korea’s finest recent horror-thriller entries.

It’s a film that asks: what do we really know about the people we love once the lights go out?

Director Jason Yu itself is a former assistant to Bong Joon-ho, and he is clearly learned from one of the best.

With his direction, the apartment becomes one of the character in the movie the hallways seem to stretch longer at night, the corners darker, the floors more creaky.

The music itself sparse and unsettling, and sometimes silence can become weapon of horror. It’s a triumph of atmosphere over spectacle.

In Sleep, Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun), a struggling actor, and Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi), his pregnant wife, live in a modest Seoul apartment.

Their life is quiet and content, until one night Hyun-su mutters something terrifying in his sleep: “Someone’s inside.” His nocturnal episodes escalate, he sleepwalks, scratches himself, even attempts to leave the apartment in the dead of night.

Soo-jin, desperate to protect their unborn child and maintain their peace, seeks help from sleep clinics, shamans, and ultimately, her own instincts.

What begins as a medical mystery soon spirals into a psychological descent. Is Hyun-su suffering from a sleep disorder?

Or is there something far darker unfolding beneath their bed sheets?

Sleep isn’t just about fear but it also about anxiety, particularly the fear of change, of becoming a parent, of losing control over one’s body or partner.

Soo-jin’s increasing desperation mirrors a common modern fear: what if love is not enough to solve the problem? What if the danger is already inside your home?

There are also subtle commentaries on belief systems—Western medicine, Eastern spirituality, and how people oscillate between science and superstition when faced with the inexplicable.

Both actor was great, Lee Sun-kyun successfully delivers a haunting final performance, bringing subtlety and fragility to Hyun-su.

He plays the role with an eerie ambiguity—never quite letting the audience know whether he is victim or vessel.

While Jung Yu-mi perform as the emotional anchor of the film. Her portrayal of Soo-jin captures a spectrum of emotions from worry, anger, exhaustion, and quiet fear.

It is through her lens that we experience the dread, and she sells every beat with a kind of grounded realism that makes the film’s surreal aspects all the more believable.

The film although not well known enough in my opinion, but it receive a very heartwarming welcome with 95% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it get strong praise for its originality, tension, and direction.

While its slow pace may not appeal to all viewers, genre audience seems have found it as breath of fresh air or terrifying air I presume.

Final Thoughts : An Unending Dream (Contain Spoilers)

To be honest, i watched this movie on my leisure time and don’t expect anything much, but Sleep is a stellar example of psychological horror done right.

With deeply human stakes, great performances, and extraordinary minimalist execution, it stands out not as one of the best movie i’ve watched so far and with this movie I expect many more from Jason Yu.

Until today, I’ve watched it twice befor write this review, and still amaze me how small element and small setting can create not just haunting but also beautiful story.

The film rewards patience and attention and it is one of the movie that’ll lingers long even after the credits roll.

Sleep unfolds in three chapters. chapter I introduce the environment and Hyun su’s first erratic sleep disorder (his drunken gestures and bizarre sleep-talking).

In chapter II the baby is born and the sleepwalking worsens: Hyun su nearly hurts himself by trying to jump out a window, and in a climactic horror he even kills their beloved (Pepper) Pomeranian.

Soo jin grows increasingly sleepless and unsettled, drilling holes and barricading rooms as though warding off an intruder.

This elevate more when a shaman insists a spirit really was involved, then Soo jin’s behavior grows almost supernatural herself.

By the final chapter at the baby’s 100th day (traditional Korean baek-il milestone) Soo jin performs a desperate ritual and she even uses a power drill on the crib and walls, screaming for the unseen entity to leave.

In a final moment, a “spirit” is shown exiting Hyun su’s body through an open window as Soo jin watches in horror. Hyun su then awakens seemingly normal the next day, this leaving Soo jin relieved.

The ending itself will remains deliberately ambiguous with the film closes on an intimate note rather than a final shock with Hyun su comforts the shaken Soo jin, and implying that the crisis has passed.

At the end we’ll be asked which to believe is Hyun-su really possessed or it just a sickness that already been cured.

The answer itself will not be revealed, but the answer will be our own perception of the movie and the character.

And my opinion the ending interpretation is the latter. As we know from the movie Hyun su was an aspiring actor who was later deemed fit by doctors, and he may simply have been performing the “possession” to calmed his wife demeanor.

Hyun su even go far and have decided to play the older man’s ghost role” so Soo jin would finally believe it was gone.

Maybe the problem in sleep is not just sleep disorder or possession, it about acceptance in ever changing condition from pregnancy, fears of losing a loved one, uncertain future for them, and sleep disorder or possession is just the catalyst to elevate it even further.

The film has a very memorable motto “Together, there is nothing we can’t overcome.” This motto serves as a poignant symbol of their commitment to face challenges as a united front.

Throughout the film, this belief is tested as they confront the terrifying manifestations of Hyun-su’s sleep disorder and Soo-jin desperation and supernatural challenge.

Despite the escalating horror, the couple’s determination to support each other underscores the narrative, highlighting the strength of their bond in the face of adversity.

And this is very beautiful amidst overwhelming fear and uncertainty.