Nyctophobia

Seayoon Jeong's Nyctophobia is a hauntingly beautiful descent into the subconscious, a film that doesn't just depict fear, it immerses you in it. From the moment Liz (Olivia Clari Nice) lies awake in her brightly lit room, dreading the encroaching darkness, the film invites viewers into a visceral exploration of anxiety and insomnia. Jeong masterfully blurs the lines between reality and dream, crafting a narrative that feels both intimate and universally resonant.

The film's strength lies in its evocative imagery and sound design. Scenes transition seamlessly from the mundane to the surreal: a classroom filled with bloodied mannequins, a jazz lounge performance to an indifferent audience, and labyrinthine corridors that seem to stretch endlessly. These sequences, combined with a soundscape of distorted lullabies and ambient noises, create an atmosphere that's both unsettling and mesmerizing. As noted by Film Threat, "Jeong uses imagery to visually evoke emotions and ideas, aiming to connect with the audience".

Olivia Clari Nice delivers a standout performance, conveying Liz's vulnerability and strength with minimal dialogue. Her portrayal captures the essence of someone grappling with inner demons, making her journey all the more compelling. The film's non-linear structure and experimental approach might challenge some viewers, but for those open to its rhythm, Nyctophobia offers a deeply rewarding experience.

In a cinematic landscape often dominated by formulaic horror, Nyctophobia stands out as a bold, introspective piece that dares to explore the complexities of fear and the human psyche. It's not just a film; it's an experience that lingers long after the credits roll. I wholeheartedly rate it 10/10 and urge anyone seeking a profound cinematic journey to watch it.

There's a lot to admire in this film, even if the whole doesn't quite come together. It's a surreal, often hypnotic descent into the hazy, fragmented experience of falling asleep - or more accurately, of fighting sleep. The filmmaker clearly has a strong grasp of visual mood and tone, and there's a level of artistic commitment here that demands respect.

Stylistically, it's striking. The black-and-white cinematography, punctuated by vivid bursts of color à la Sin City, creates a haunting contrast that pulls your eye exactly where it needs to go. It doesn't just look beautiful - it feels intentional, calculated, poetic. The selective color isn't just a gimmick; it adds emotional texture, highlighting specific moods and memories like flickers in a dream.

The sound design is also worth noting - it's immersive, atmospheric, and often carries entire scenes. In moments where the visuals slow to a crawl, the sonic environment continues doing the heavy lifting, deepening the sensory experience in a way that feels deliberate and well-crafted.

That said, the film struggles with pacing. Several scenes linger far beyond their emotional or narrative weight. Repetition is used - perhaps as a way to mirror the cyclical nature of sleeplessness - but not always effectively. Some viewers may interpret the loops and long silences as meditative, but they can also feel like endurance tests.

There's no traditional plot to latch onto, and while that's not a problem in itself, the emotional throughline could've been more defined. The film asks for a lot of patience and offers atmosphere and abstraction in return. For some, that will be enough. For others, it may feel like a missed opportunity for a tighter, more layered narrative.

Nyctophobia is an experimental feature tackling insomnia and anxiety. It is a strange fantasy shot in stylish black and white interspersed with some splash of bright colors, a la Robert Rodriguez's Sin City.

The movie takes place over the course of a night as a woman suffering from nyctophobia (phobia of the dark) and insomnia tries to go to sleep peacefully. As so many would attest, it is not as easy as it should. She keeps getting interrupted by frightening visions in her bizarre dream. It is also implied she might be suffering from anxiety as well, exhibiting all too common hyper vigilance often associated with the disorder.

Depicted through a series of bizarre, macabre imagery, the disorder takes on symbolic presence marked by the presence of murderous clowns, somehow. They become the proxy for the monsters that haunt the mind, the villains our heroine must fight off in order to be able to sleep. The abstract imagery accurately portrays the never ending cycle of anxiety with its intrusive thoughts, scary worst case scenario in one's head. The visual is confidently conceived, well shot and atmospheric - a crucial element since the film hinges on its ambience.

The surreal approach works thanks to a stand out performance by the lead actress. She holds down the fort as the lone speaking character for the whole 90 minute duration. She's so dynamic in this role, always game for the film's many many insane sequences which count multiple dancing and action scenes. She's just as affecting in the quieter moment in the real world, capturing the desperation of sleeplessness.

On the weaker side, the film is a little bit repetitive in its bid to draw out the creepy factor. It seemingly does not realize it has made its point about two-third way through. As a result, the second half feels too indulgent and precious. Some editing here and there might be just what it needs.

All in all, boasting strong visual, impressive acting performance and a profound understanding of the disorder it portrays, the film is a work of art that largely works as a statement piece, though not really as a narrative piece.

Nyctophobia, in scientific terms, is a crippling fear of the dark and what it might be hiding. People with this condition have extreme anxiety when they're in the dark or think about darkness. Such people also have difficulty getting sleep and thus, their lives are in a perpetual state of fear and unease.

Written and directed by Seayoon Jeong, Nyctophobia is a 2024 horror feature that stars Olivia Clari Nice, Sophia Biscotti and David Rannan Ellner. The film is a story of a young woman Liz who struggles with nyctophobia. Tired, anxious and unable to sleep, Liz will find her worst fears realized as her condition slowly takes a turn for the worse. She desperately tries to fall asleep by entering her inner world where she can access her happy childhood memories. However, she ultimately becomes trapped in her lucid dream world and encounters her worst nightmare.

I never expected Nyctophobia to be as hard hitting as it turned out to be. Anchored by fantastic makeup and creature design, the film is genuinely haunting. I can only imagine how people with such a disorder manage to get sleep but what Nyctophobia does is that it manages to apprise general audiences that such a condition indeed exists and it is nothing short of hell.

Olivia Clari Nice as Liz Whitman is a revelation. Not only does her measured performance anchor the film, Whitman's journey of survival finds us rooting for her wholeheartedly. On the other hand, there are equally great turns by the bad guys. From the clown cops to the eerie dancing ladies, all monsters are terrifying and disturbing.

The 90 minute feature whizzes by in a flash, courtesy of brisk editing that keeps us on our toes. Jeong knows how to craft a potent horror thriller as the pacing switches back and forth allowing the audience to have a false sense of comfort before plunging them into chaos once again. Technically, the film manages to knock it out of the park. The black and white cinematography works well to illustrate the visual aspect of the fear. However, what works best is how color frequently manages to break through this monotonous palette. Each such instance signifies something important and this is one of the few visual tools that Jeong employs to make her story that much more engaging.

Thus, Seayoon Jeong's Nyctophobia is a potent film, one that successfully immortalizes a particular fear that is all too real. With haunting visuals and great performances, this one is a winner. Five out of five stars from me.

Out of the MANY movies I've rated this is only the 6th to get a 1/10, and it's WELL deserved. Most movies have some kind of redeeming quality, something that they do well. This doesn't. It's pretentious (black-and-white and all). It's agonizingly slow. It's surrealist with no real plot to give it direction. It's the kind of thing that's produced when a writer thinks far too highly of themself. It's as if the writer/director absolutely despises every single human being and wants to punish them.

This is supposed to be the various stages of falling asleep, but it's really just an excuse for surrealist slop. Every stage (and really, every scene) goes on FAR longer than it should. As in, five minutes for something that should have been 15 seconds. There are also numerous times when entire sequences are replayed with no variation whatsoever. I wound up skipping past her singing a boring song for at least five minutes. During the next stage I left the room to go do something, came back and the same thing was on the screen. It's not just that these scenes are boring and overly long, they serve no purpose because there's no plot to begin with.

There are more than a few elements that are reminiscent of Eraserhead (the writer/director is clearly a fan), but without the necessary talent none of the imagery has any impact. Things that are clearly meant to be creepy just come off as painfully dumb.

The only reason I even made it through this was a sort of fascination that a movie could be so bad and actually get released. It's like when your friend is proud of something and you don't have the heart to tell them that it's terrible. The movie is excruciating, and the only people that will like it are critics that want to feel intelligent.