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.

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.

For a series that I assume was produced on a shoestring budget and headlined by a youtuber, TEOS does an incredible job of telling a really compelling story, albeit a bit different from the original podcast. In the first few episodes, it is definitely a bit of a harder watch and harder to get hooked into-- the acting and the script feel a bit awkward and forced, but nearing the last half of the series you really begin to feel the weight of their situation as they struggle to stay awake.

Now obviously its not perfect-- from a filmmakers standpoint, there are some spots that I felt like could have been done better, cuts and bits of dialogue and whatnot, but like i said before: once the crew and cast get their sea legs out under them, its such a interesting watch. Absolutely would watch again and cant wait until the new season comes out in 5 years lol.

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 listened to the Edge of Sleep audiodrama as it came out and really enjoyed it, everything from the premise to the audio design just really came together and served as great weekly entertainment. Seeing that it got a TV release I instantly went to watch it. I liked it and walked away happy that I saw it, but there are 2 major issues with it...

To be clear: I am a Markiplier fan so don't downvote this I have the best intentions. I went to one of his tours, wore a Markiplier themed backpack in High School, and watched all of his content when I was younger. His performance in the audiodrama was also great, the deep quality of his voice was able to sell a miserable and exhausted character. And I love the campiness he reaches with his acting in Youtube originals, he sells cocky characters well.

However as good as his delivery was in the podcast it did not translate well to visual acting. Everyone else was fantastic, I particularly enjoyed Matteo, Linda, and the Dream Doctor as characters, but next to them Mark fell short. It looked like he was reciting lines instead of embodying Dave and it never really felt like I was watching a serious scene with him in the shot since he just wasn't selling the misery well. The only time I felt like he did a good job was during a hallucination where he sees a copy of himself that delivered a campy and lighthearted line. That one sentence was the only thing that worked for him and that's unfortunate considering he's trying to be serious. Hopefully, his Iron Lung performance is better and this served as a good teaching lesson.

The second huge issue was the camera work. Something felt unpolished and flat about the shots, I don't go to film school so I don't know how to describe it, but something about it just wasn't TV quality. I liked the use of colours and imagery, but the field of depth was just strange, something wrong with the lenses I think. Was consistent throughout and made the film feel amateurish.

As a whole though I enjoyed what I saw. The overuse of the shape of a triangle, overemphasis of 'The Elephant', and hallucination scenes going on for a bit too long also detracted but weren't as big of an issue. Again most of the acting was great, I was really invested in how they'd tackle the premise compared to how they did in the podcast, and I definitely DO want to see more. I WANT there to be more and I WANT to see a better performance from the lead. Glad it exists. Just wish those two major issues as stated previously were fixed cause as it currently stands I can't really recommend this to someone who isn't a fan of Markiplier.

7/10.