Sleep

"Mona," the adult daughter of "Marlene" travels to the remote Sonnenhügel Hotel to find out why her mother trashed a hotel room before lapsing into a "stupor." Prior to traveling to the hotel, Marlene had remarked to Mona that she had experienced four dreams involving this same place. In each dream, a different man had killed himself. But in the fourth dream, there was a stronger man present, though he was becoming weaker with time. This place really exists, she tells Mona. Marlene then traveled to the hotel to confront her dream/nightmare, only to be undone by what occurred in her room there.

There are several layers to Mona's investigation: There is the obvious question (prompted by one of doctors) of what triggered Marlene's fugue state. (There may be something genetic at work, the doctor had reasoned. Mona demurred, as Mona is Marlene's only living relative.). When Mona reaches the hotel, proprietor "Otto" is willing to assist Mona in her desire to see the room at issue. His spouse, "Lore," is far less willing to aid Mona in her investigation. Mona also discovers from Otto that it is indeed the case that three men had killed themselves on the property, undone, he tells her, by the burdens of having an entire community depend upon their success and efforts. Not everyone can bear such a burden, he reasons.

Mona also asks Otto about a name "Trude" that appeared on one of her mother's many notebook-style drawings. Otto tells Mona he will look into this clue. Subsequently, Mona has lunch with Lore and Otto. Otto tells Mona that the name Trude "rang a bell" and that he remembered that it is a "lullaby." He retrieves an old tape recorder and plays for Mona the contents of the tune. The lullaby sends both Otto and Mona into fugue states that result in a clear danger to Mona and a sudden change in direction for the film. ("Trude," we learn, is not simply a lullaby and Otto is not simply a driven, but friendly, hotel proprietor.)

As the film closes in on the one-hour mark, we discover that at the heart of "Sleep" is the issue of historical memory. The hotel, like the town in which it is located, is in the process of rebuilding. And part of that rebuilding is directly addressing how the past is to be remembered. Otto has ambitions of a political nature. He is part of a far-right party that will have as its base the hotel. In a dinner speech to his fellow travelers ("the finest men of the valley," he calls them), he tells his male companions that "they" should not to be "ashamed . . . Of our origins, our traditions . . . Our history." It is time for a "new . . . Movement." He states that "naked envy drives these parasites to our borders" and that they must wear their "armor" when dealing with such miscreants.

This turn to politics may seem both sudden and strange in a movie that, at least for most of its running time, was singularly uninterested in such matters. But this is simply to bring to the surface the unexposed "point" of the film: that the ghosts (and delirium) of the past are alive and well in the house; only in "Sleep" it is the women, across generations, who have to confront and then pick up the pieces of this past: Marlene, who travels to a place (the hotel) that feels like a home she knows but never really knew; Mona, who retraces her mothers steps with the intention of helping her mother; Lore, who guards the hotel while Otto entertains the guests; Friza, the hotel aide who (rather cleverly) fights the "Nazis" (and with Lore's blessing!); and Trude, the erstwhile rescuer, who also appears to be the living descendent of those who were the victims of war crimes.

Other reviewers have likened the narrative style of "Sleep" to the work of David Lynch. Given the underlying concerns in the movie, I am not sure I agree with the analogy, though there are some surrealistic stylistic elements that lend some credence to it. I will agree, however, that "Sleep" is not a tidy movie. That said, "Sleep" also has ambitions that are far greater than the average celluloid ghost story. To that extent, "Sleep" is a far more "serious" offering than, say, the more recent "Cuckoo" (2024).

This German film about nightmares hardly kept me awake despite the fact that it is pretty well made, with a great care about aesthetics. But the plot rapidly eliminated the interest which I had at the beginning, I don't know why, maybe a feeling of déjà vu, though not for a German film. That's precisely the point, because we must seek the originality in this culturesque angle. I think that it also could be a Spanish film, with such a topic. Only children miss.... I won't spoil the film, but I think we can analyse the genesis of this story in history. German history, eighty years ago. I guess you see what I mean.... But that's only my opinion. To summarize, it's worth watching for those for whom this kind of film is made for. Unfortunately not me, but I tried....

After her mother's breakdown, a young woman fearing that she'll follow the same self-destructive path learns about her mother's obsession with a strange town that eventually starts her own obsession with the location, forcing her to confront dark secrets from the past to get away alive.

Overall, this was a solid if problematic genre effort. What works quite well for this one is the highly intriguing mystery and psychological torment that's at play within here. The fact that the film centers around the deciphering of dreams hiding untapped misery and torment, with the mother's insistence on locating the fabled hotel she's noticed in the real world being the same as the one she's dreamed of, becomes all the more involved once the daughter realizes that has begun affecting her as well. The trip to uncover the truth and the encounters with the locals are unnerving enough to be quite creepy with the clues seeming to point to something unexpected and otherworldly happening but not making sense. This helps to fuel the film throughout the first half as the mysterious build-up tends to pay off quite nicely. Those payoffs come together quite well in the form of the nightmare sequences that may or may not be real. Despite ample evidence that the real world is scary enough with the initial clues to her mother's mental state from the creepy journals and the strange disarray found in her hotel room when she arrives there, the fact that the striking visual in the dream-state where all sorts of bizarre figures and entities are shown that border on surrealism at times with the curiously just-off-normal route many of them feature. Since these provide enough context throughout the middle and final acts of the mystery being presented here, they end up delivering nicely at the end by featuring enough to really like about it. However, there are some issues with the film that holds this one back somewhat. This is mostly focused on the fact that there's so much allegory and subtle commentary present that it's almost overpowering the scares at times. The multilayered story about the sins of the past involving the true history of the country being resurrected and the connection between their family history tends to dominate the majority of the tension featured here. That can make for a highly underwhelming experience for those wanting a more horror-oriented path here since so little of the running time is focused on outright genre thrills in favor of this unraveling mystery. As well, with this being quite complex to get to some of the plot-points are dropped out and left unresolved to the point of frustration and confusion which all bring this down slightly.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Full Nudity and Violence.

Right away, some people are going to be turned off because this film forces you to pay attention and think.

This is not a mindless romp through nightmares or haunted hotels.

There are very intricate plot points and a few twists that you need to pay attention to, otherwise once things ramp up in the third act, you'll be lost.

There is a surrealism to this viewing experience but I would not go as far as to put this into a category with David Lynch as some other reviewers have. This film doesn't have the intelligence or transgressive undertones of Lynch's work.

That doesn't mean it isn't intelligent or that the film is subpar in any way. In fact, this film is very well made both from a storytelling standpoint as well as a technical standpoint.

The use of camera angles, color, lighting, etc all serve to draw you into the scene with comfort that shifts into unease effortlessly.

The characters are somewhat likable but seem rather emotionally disconnected throughout the film and I found myself wondering if that was intentional in an effort to throw the audience off and not allow them to get too comfortable in any one situation with any one character.

The payoff at the end was on point and brings about a satisfying conclusion.

My one complaint would have to be the after credits scene.

It feels tacked on and pointless and it is shot in a way that looks like it's from an entirely different film. It just doesn't belong here and it should have been left out.

Highly recommend.

Marlene (Sandra Huller) is a flight attendant who suffers from severe nightmares, from which she awakens to draw sketches of her dreams. Her adult daugher Mona (Gro Swantje Kohlhof) takes care of her, but believes her when she says she's scheduled for a flight to Turkey. Instead, Marlene follows her dream-sketches to a hotel in the remote heartland of Germany, a town called Stainbach, and is soon hospitalized after a psychotic break at the hotel. Mona finds her, decides to stay at the same hotel run by Otto (August Schmolzer) and his wife Lore (Marion Kracht), but soon finds that the past is very much with the present in this hotel: including the suicides of the three founders, Otto's mentors, and the fact that Otto needs to be tethered to his bed to prevent him getting out at night....

That's a very sketchy outline of this very effective movie, which is really a deep dive into how the past affects the present, how bygone evil deeds and beliefs can retain their allure for some people, and how, sometimes, it's hard to know what reality is. Sleep: we all do it (even sharks who are not thought to sleep but I think it's just that we don't yet understand their version of sleep), and we all dream too. And that is when, this film suggests, we are most vulnerable - but also most insightful. I expected to be scared by this movie, because of its framing, but I never really got that jolt of adrenalin from fear because it's far more subtle than that. And, no, I don't like scary movies, so I was relieved at that. Instead, I end up finding myself thinking a lot about uncomfortable subjects such as the resurgence of fascism that has never really left us, and how easily it can come back. Recommended.