Schlafwandler

If you don't watch a lot of movies, you might find this one to be entertaining. If you have watched a lot, then you'll notice how unimaginative this movie truly was. I don't have particularly high standards for all movies. But if you're going to be a slow burn, at least have a good ending. The ending was a letdown. Truly a waste of time.

I am a horror novelist, so I am undoubtably a fan of cryptic symbolism and leaving things up to the viewers imagination. However, this film had me wondering if I was too dumb to understand it, or too smart to enjoy it. I don't know if I understood it. Maybe I am simply too stupid to grasp the artistic vision. Or maybe it was just a really bad movie.

I imagine the writers were fighting over what ending they wanted to pick. They give what seems to be the conclusion 4 times before the story finds away to pick back up. Unfortunately, the actual conclusion is an elementary writing cliche. I have no idea how they managed to get away with that ending in this day in age. I had to google the Wikipedia article to make sure I had understood it correctly. I am still not sure if I do. The audience is left with so many loose ends and questions. It seems most scenes happened just for the sake of happening. Half of the movie has no real plot relevance Also, it was really, really unnecessary for the directors to have the main character in lingerie for half of the movie. Who sleeps in that??? It's hard to focus on whatever message they're trying to convey when the main actor is dripping wet in nothing but a white, lace underwear set.

Acting was amazing. I think the choking scenes were beautifully filmed. Great consume design. Tons of symbolism that is easily missed if you glance away from the screen for a second too long. The transitions and cinematography were great. It has looks of a billion-dollar-budget movie with the quirk of an indie film. I wish it had better writers. Maybe if they had stuck with the original conclusion, or tied up more loose ends, it would have been a 10/10. It had the makings of a cult classic. It failed miserably in the ending.

The acting was OK and the directing was good. The mood of the film was exactly what I think it should have been and the tension keeps increasing as the movie goes, so it was captivating. All in waiting for the end that will explain it all. Alas, it kind of went the way of Phantasm, where you don't know where reality begins and fantasy ends, thus invalidating most of the qualities of the production.

I liked the main character. A gorgeous redhead who doesn't act all passionate and crazy, but coolly tries to figure out a situation that would have made most people crack. The other characters were kind of secondary, but they did their job in a story that is about what's going on in the lead's head. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for mind bending movies, but I also generally hate films that end with "oh, it was all in their head" or "they were all dead" (yes, not a fan of Jacob's Ladder), so I didn't enjoy the ending at all.

Bottom line: with so many good things in this film - including Izabella Scorupco who is still hot as hell and Ahna O'Reilly moving around in white underwear - I really wanted to like and understand the film and I just couldn't. Too bad.

Acting was great, considering the script and story was absolute bobbins. I didn't get it at all, I followed it all the way through but didn't get the point of the story. None of it made sense.

Another poster nailed it. The last screens explained it all quite tidily. Only thing I don't understand... the folks that didn't understand lol Excellent film and I'm glad I watched it.