Dr. Sander's Sleep Cure

We found this film lacking in horror, but what it missed in scares, it made up for with an engaging plot and impressive visuals. The music was also a highlight-keep an ear out for the unexpected song at the end! We chose to watch this film after learning that the director himself holds a Guinness World Record for playing nearly 50 different roles. At some point, we lost count, but the experience was entertaining, and some of the stories stayed with us long after the credits rolled. Overall, I think it's worth 8 out of 10, if not for anything else, then for being quite different from other horror flicks that were watched this week.

A man (one of the many roles of the director and writer Mart Sander himself) can't find sleep and then puts on a weird cassette tape that is supposed to make the listener drowsy.

First the dreams are slower, then they speed up. The man sees himself in his dreams - first there is one of him, then two, then a lot more!

To be honest, I actually felt sleepy when listening to the hypnotic, purring voice (once more, Sander himself). Especially. Since I watched the film very late at night. So I identified myself with the poor man, because every time another nightmare began, I jolted awake and the sleep was gone.

Mart Sander seems to be one of the-if not the-most prolific filmmakers to emerge from Estonia, and his films are certainly different, but worth watching.

Listening to dialogue that seems to be written for English speakers and then getting mostly-Estonian speakers to translate that to the screen is not without its challenges, and it often detracts from the final product, but if you can get past that mental hurdle and focus on the aesthetics and the complexities of the story, it becomes easier to fall into the dream-like world Sander has established in films like this.

Many scenes remind me of a Greenaway film but with more entertainment value. Like Greenaway, Sander seems to pull classic artworks off the canvas into cinema (albeit less directly), but I think he does it in a more entertaining way. (If you know Greenaway's work you know it can be challenging to sit through at times, usually due to an almost condescending disregard for the audience's patience.) Sander seems a bit more concerned with exposition than Geenaway-and though the sweet spot often eludes him, his work here is a bit more fun to watch.

The mood and gloom of this film also feels a bit Poe-ish, which adds to the entertainment value as well-at least for those who like Poe, art, and magical realism.

Thankfully, Tubi seems to have picked up quite a a few of Sander's films. Check them out!

I have to say I'm currently feeling very positive about this film, after having seen this at the domestic premiere. I entered with mixed feelings, but the bizarre episodic story drew me in quite fast.

Having had my own share of nightmares and sleeplessness, the makers of the film capture the essence of this condition well. The feverish dreams that seem to last forever but in reality only take seconds, or then seem to last for a second but in fact go on for ever....

There's a lot of picturesque scenery and the color scheme is interesting, changing from nightmare to nightmare. Also, some very pretty ladies in the cast.

I did like the movie.

It was fun.

And I like the short story genre, even if some of the stories are better than the others - it didn't really matter to me, as long as each one was unique, previously unknown and held its own meaning.

Variety was pretty rich, and some stories were quite nice, some even could actually help lead you into sleep.

Unfortunately, constant interruptions by the narrator's cocky demeanor and voice somehow kept breaking the tranquility.

I wanted to dive into the stories indeed, as there were many opportunities for that, but I really wish that narrator character would be more tone down and mysterious, instead of somewhat condescending and, dare I say it, annoying.

I really felt like that guy in the movie - tossing and turning. It is called 'A Sleep Cure', couldn't you just let me drift away for a bit?!

I would give it 8, if not for that narrator character feeling mismatched as per my taste.

Other than that, a fine film.

Would wish to see more of similar.

Thanks a lot!