Marlena is haunted by terrifying nightmares. Every night she is tormented by paralyzing visions of a mysterious hotel and a series of suicides that took place there. The woman is convinced that the harassing visions are not accidental. She sees them as clues needed to solve a great puzzle. When the woman finds hotel from her dreams, she experiences a serious seizure and ends up in the hospital. Her daughter – a teenage and resourceful Mona – decides to follow the tips of nightmares, solve the mystery of the small-town Overlook and discover what almost killed her mother. When a girl falls into the web of family secrets, she begins to lose her confidence in what is real and what is an unsettling dream.
Michael Venus’ “Sleep” is an atmospheric horror that combines the theme of nightmares, family dramas and an intergenerational desire for revenge. The German director efficiently interweaves numerous elements, creating a story that is suspenseful, surprising and, above all, expressive. In the picturesque German town of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” he meets Stephen King and a nationalist madman longing for the old social order. From the first minutes of “Sleep”, questions pile up, the atmosphere thickens, and the nightmare continues. And nobody knows if it will ever end.
On the screen, next to the promising Gro Swantje Kohlhof, we also see Agata Buzek.
WORLD PREMIERE: Berlin International Film Festival 2020
Age restriction: 16+
director: Michael Venus screenwriters: Thomas Friedrich, Michael Venus cast: Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Sandra Hüller, August Schmölzer, Marion Kracht, Agata Buzek and others director of photography: Marius von Felbert editor: Silke Olthoff music: Sebastian Damerius, Johannes Lehniger language: German subtitles: Polish
