Sleep Tight

I had no idea what this film was about before I saw it, and boy was I pleasantly surprised. From the same director as REC and also set in an apartment block. This Spanish gem has a great cast, especially the lead 'Luis Tosar' who plays his part superbly, filling you with an ever increasing sense of unease and shock at what you're witnessing. It's very beautifully shot too, making the most of it's apartment block setting. By the end of the film I was left thinking "this could actually happen".

It's by far one of the creepiest, most twisted tales I've had the pleasure of watching in a long time.

Highly recommended!

The perspective of the antagonist feels so real. The acting is absolutely amazing, which makes the cold heartedness of the concierge all the more vivid. Its a thriller and from the beginning you know how messed up things are going to get. However, with each minute the acts of the main character turn more evil than you could possibly imagine. I did not look away from the screen for the entire 1,5 hour.

Nonetheless, I really struggle giving this movie any higher than a 7/10. While everything is done beautifully and the story is an absolute thrill, it all seems a bit pointless at the end. I mean, the concept of the movie is to obtain the perspective of true sadism. While interesting in Schindlers list for example, it feels like this movie is overdoing it. It will just leave you empty and sad, while thinking: yep, thats true evil right there. Similar to the movie 'the devil all the times '.

All in all, its a thrilling and interesting watch. Just dont expect it to be enjoyable.

¨Sleep Tight¨ is both an intense , intriguing and an exciting portrait of subdued madness . ¨Mientras Duermes¨ (the official English title is Sleep tight , but the correct translation is "while you sleep", which to me is far more creepy) lives up to Jaume Balaguero's reputation . This interesting film deals with Cesar (Luis Tosar) , a lone man being incapable of happiness . The residents of the building where Cesar works as a concierge are not aware of the overtime he has been putting in . Apparently, he is at their service both day and night . Before the sun even has a chance to get its morning coffee , César is climbing out of bed , the sympathetic Clara (Marta Etura) still sleeping deeply beside him . When we meet César, he is lying in bed next to the gorgeous girl . He says as much in Sleep's opening voice-over as he stands at a rooftop's edge . He's a sad doorman at an upper crust apartment complex , but , despite he cannot be happy , Cesar goes about his work with dignified class . The adorable Clara is César's polar opposite , she is full of happiness . She is a likable tenant in the apartment building and her gladness is insistent and contagious . But when her boyfriend (Alberto San Juan) arrives in the building the events go wrong .

While Balaguero earlier films focused more on family , social situations , religion and weird creatures , his latest introduces the audience to the worst monster : the human being . This suspenseful movie was produced by the successful Catalan producers Julio and Carlos Fernandez from Fantastic factory ; it displays relentless thriller , intrigue , shocks , hard-edged drama , plot twists , creepy images and some gore when crime takes place . Director Jaume Balagueró (Rec, Rec 2, Fragiles , Darkness , The nameless) uses that uneasy non-knowledge for both horror and introducing brief touches of black humor . ¨Sleep Tight¨ is a motion picture that balances precariously over the dark comedy , ¨Psycho¨' Hitchockian intrigue , Michael Haneke's ¨Funny games¨ invasion genre bins and Michael Powell's ¨Peeping Tom¨ style . The overall result is chilling proof that Balagueró can take us back into an apartment building while delivering a completely different scare . Extraordinary performance by Luis Tosar , he plays a real tour-de-force in one of his best acting of his important career as a solitary and unhappy psychopath and an attractive , enjoyable Marta Etura , both of whom are a happy couple in real life . The picture packs a thrilling and intriguing musical score by Lucas Vidal . Furthermore , a colorful and appropriate cinematography by Pablo Rosso , Balaguero's usual .

'Sleep Tight' demonstrates director Balagueró's versatility , resulting to be a sublime thriller that every genre buff should be excited for . Rating : Good , better than average . The movie will appeal to thriller and suspense fans .

I 've seen "REC" some months ago and I just wasn't sure... I mean, how can you tell if there is a visionary director or some random guy who just got lucky? "REC" wasn't so demanding by concept and it all worked out fine.

So I had to check another one and this time I was sure that Jaume Balagueró really is a visionary director plus ...I got lucky! Because Sleep Tight was a real treat for this messed up part of my mind (we all have this, aren't we?).

Yes, it is a thriller all right, but not the horror-jump scare kind of thriller. The horror element here is actually a poison more than just a scare. It will slowly get into you and when this film is done it will extract a portion of happiness out of your soul for the pleasure of César.

César is the main character and he is suffering from pathological unhappiness. He have an urge to kill himself every single day but his survival instinct driving him to find a reason not to. But what can you do to feel better in this absolute sadness especially since you realise that you are just not capable of happiness? Well, misery loves company. And the only way is to make the others unhappy too.

That's the whole story actually, but the way this story unfolds itself before our unsuspected eyes is masterful. I was watching the film alone and I was so into it in the first twenty minutes that at some point I was yelling to the TV. I was on the edge ever after and before the very end I was filled with sympathy AND repulsion for the same character, soaked into despair of what a man can do.

After big summer blockbusters, I think it's time to turn to a more thought-provoking European movies, and Mientras Duermes is a perfect choice. We have seen a multitude of Spanish movies that are excellent but somehow they don't reach any of the viewers and instead rot in the video stores (I guess they still exist...). What is fascinating (fascinating, this movie form is alive) about them are the plots and general ideas that are so whacked out and original that it's mind boggling. And lets be perfectly clear, these are not some straight-to-DVD movies with small budget and amateur actors, but a full-bloodied cinema masterpieces, with phenomenal actors and immaculate scripts. Immediately after watching Mientras Duermes I checked out what other movies did this talented crew created and Celda 211 was my first choice. I haven't watched it yet, but it seems like a damn fine movie.

I was talking about the originality and the pureness of the ideas in European cinema, and if you remember a couple months earlier I reviewed El Habitante Incierto, another phenomenal Spanish movie with a great script. Sleep Tight or Mientras Duermes, is a Spanish movie and I implore you to see the original version in Spanish as with any other movie that has a dubbed version, no matter how good the dubbing is, it's still not the real thing. One more thing about this movie is very disturbing and that is the sympathy for Cesar that I felt throughout the movie, although I maybe shouldn't. The suspense, the twists, the acting... I could go on and on telling you how good this movie is and how the atmosphere has that special vibe, that space-time continuum thingy captured, so every time you decide to watch it, you will relive it...

You probably noticed that the half of the review space has gone in some gibberish and not a word was said about the actual movie, and the reason for this is that I am afraid to say almost anything because it might ruin your viewing experience. I dived into this, now already cult, movie without any informations and was amazed, and so far everyone that have seen it had the same reaction. Some scenes where Cesar is trying to avoid detection are nerve-wrecking and so intense that I felt like I was going through it all. But still, here's something to keep you going: César works as a janitor in a building and is pretty much disappointed in life. He has no friends nor a girlfriend, no interests and nothing to make him happy, just his menial work and the smiling faces of other people who seem to be doing just fine. One of them is Clara, a beautiful girl living in the same building. Soon she becomes a subject of obsession for Cesar and to what degree this goes is up to you to find out...

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