The Edge of Sleep

I can't think of a show like this one, it's paving its own way in a really interesting form. An amazing show with clearly a lot of love thrown into it, Edge of Sleep deserves praise for a well written plot, incredible directing, and an engaging cast. It captures this idea of dreams on film in a way I don't think I've seen before. Their disorganized shots of these dreams captures the surrealism and disorientation of night terrors, and the cast also acts very well as their exhaustion progresses. The characters start out exhausted and emotional, but as their exhaustion grows you can see their emotions and reactions fade in a way that's clearly both intentional, and incredible acting wise.

This is a very intriguing story, there is clearly a lot of potential here, and I would definitely recommend watching it, however, the length and number of episodes I believe caused some of the biggest issues with this show.

It feels like the show is rushing to get to its ending.

The character writing leaves a lot to be desired, even if certain aspects of some of the characters are interesting. The characters don't feel very fleshed out, and that's all due to the show's main focus being moving the plot forward asap, instead of slowly and properly introducing us to the world and its characters.

Still, this is an intriguing watch, and for the concepts and ideas showcased, I would definitely recommend it if you've got some time to spare.

Going into this I had high expectations based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews. Markiplier has done some great stuff and, having not listened to the podcast, I was going in blind. Overall I wouldn't say I was overly impressed or disappointed. It was pretty good, but nothing more. The acting wasn't anything special. The effects were solid. Story was very interesting but a bit confusing, they took the premise and went a very cerebral, Lovecraftian direction that I wasn't expecting. Things make a lot more sense after the finale but there are still a lot of questions. Because it's so short, even if you don't end up liking it, you pretty much only lose 2 hours. It probably would have done better waiting till a little later to introduce the stranger elements because they seemed pretty out of place at the start.

Overall, I recommend it. It's an easy commitment that you can binge quickly and it makes you think.

I'm not a super fan of Markiplier so I feel I can give a more honest review.

I gave Edge Of Sleep a watch because I like to see what Markiplier is up to creatively. I never listened to the podcast for this story so I was going in with no spoilers or expectations. Here is my feedback:

Acting: you can definitely tell who has had acting classes and is more equipped and who isn't. I believe both women (Lio and Eve) did better than their male co stars. Truthfully, Markiplier's acting fell flat in my opinion but I don't fault him. I personally, couldn't do better than what he did. Acting is hard. I do believe because he has a passion for this, that he could get better. The flow between actors dialogue wasn't completely there and felt choppy at some points. It wasn't a deal breaker so I continued watching.

Music: I actually enjoyed the opening credits and the music selection. It gave the appropriate vibe it was going for.

Visuals/shots: I was impressed. It was creepy, eerie, and engaging. It wasn't the best thing I've seen. If anything it was like if a group of young adults got together to recreate some aspects of American Horror Story as a passion project.

Special effects: the horror elements were done well in my opinion. In fact it gave some Evil Dead vibes with claymation and I really enjoyed that! Obviously much better than claymation but hopefully you get my point. It was good and didn't feel like cheesy CGI.

Storyline: it felt rushed and not all characters had chemistry with one another. Although the actor Eve that played Linda the nurse was better than the male Costars, her character was just all over the place. She just didn't seem like a likely character in real life. And yes, I know all of it was weird - but her weirdness didn't vibe with the rest of it. A nurse who insults people and some how performs surgeries? I get she came from a surgical background for some agency and was blacklisted because she blew the whistle...but still - very reaching. And for her to immediately go we need to tell people?? I mean it takes at least four or five episodes in for someone to come to a conclusion of what it is and to warn people (or at least have the suspense of it). It felt rushed.

At some point I stopped actively watching and had it on as background noise. I would come back to it every now and again but it wasn't keeping my attention.

Therefore, I give it a 5/10, it was okay and still worth watching especially if you want to support people who are genuinely making an effort to bring creative material to their fanbase and audience.

They should keep going and I would watch more seasons to see how they continue to improve and grow.

I haven't watched any Markiplier videos in years, and knew nothing about this before its sudden release when it was everywhere. I decided to give it a whirl, and it's worth a watch I'd say.

For the positives, I think at a high level it's an intriguing premise. What would you do if 99% of the population died in their sleep, and you had to try and figure out what to do without being able to sleep yourself? There's some creepy segments and imagery, and honestly Mark's not a terrible actor. He's not going to be winning an Emmy or anything but I thought he did a decent enough job for someone who got famous by playing games and acting like a goofball on YouTube. It's also very quick, 6 twenty minute episodes, and they move along pretty briskly. It could easily be knocked out in an evening.

For the cons, the main one is probably that it's a little art-housy. Everything that happens does get some kind of explanation, but I could understand people being frustrated at how light some of the explanations are. There's also some Hollywood Logic on display, of people being able to do things or act in a certain way that real people wouldn't be able to do. The general script and acting also aren't amazing, although both were serviceable enough. Also, the last halfish of the final episode is basically just a big exposition dump, which is always annoying.

Really though, I think it's a small enough investment that it's worth giving a shot. It's basically the length of a movie, and there's enough creepy imagery to make it worth a watch.