SOMNIUM
Aspiring actress Gemma leaves behind her small town and moves to LA. Upon discovering the harsh reality of pounding the pavement in Hollywood, from failed auditions to a dwindling bank account, Gemma desperately takes a position at a dream studies lab, Somnium. After accidentally meeting a producer, things are looking up. Until her graveyard shift, severe lack of sleep, and the discovery of questionable lab practices, cause her new life to shift into a waking nightmare.
Gemma’s co-worker and head dream designer takes a liking to her, but she suspects there’s something off about him. His intense focus on the job led her to investigate rumors during her long and relatively mundane shifts. Though as the nights pass and Gemma loses more sleep, a dark presence disturbs her watch over the dreaming clients. She begins to hear and see things during her shifts.
Filmmaker Racheal Cain‘s seamless use of classic genre tropes creates creeping dread. Darkness and open doorways tap into innate fears. The overall aesthetic of the film is brilliant. Gemma’s apartment and wardrobe create beautifully vibrant tableaus that slowly become consumed in her sadness and perhaps something much more sinister. Memories triggered by her diary entries create an emotional stronghold for the audience. Cain quietly reveals what and who Gemma left behind to pursue a path to stardom. This slick narrative manipulation has a massive impact on the film’s arc.
Chloë Levine is captivating. She absolutely nails that small-town girl with the big dreams persona. You’d almost think you were watching a documentary. She has that it factor. When you finally see her audition, you are even more impressed. Somnium has this genre-bending, meta feel to it, and Leine owns every single beat.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comparisons are inevitable, but Cain comes from an acutely different motivational angle that SOMNIUM confidently stands on its own. When you understand the number of years the film took to complete, the fact that Cain began the script in 2011, and the genius happenstance of filming the flashback scenes in 2018, it feels like fate that the film at long last gets its lauded debut.
Somnium Trailer:
Racheal Cain’s Horror Sci-Fi Somnium
Starring Chloë Levine, Will Peltz, Peter Vack
Johnathon Schaech & Grace Van Dien
Opens Theatrically August 29 in LA, September 6 in NYC
Streaming on Digital HD September 9
After a painful breakup, small-town Gemma moves to Los Angeles with the hopes of making it big. To get on her feet, she takes a job working the overnight shift at Somnium – a mysterious, experimental sleep clinic where dreams are made real. Meanwhile, Gemma throws herself into the cutthroat world of Hollywood auditions. But as the pressure to succeed mounts, she begins to experience strange and unsettling phenomena, and soon finds herself trapped in a nightmarish spiral as she discovers a darkness lurking within the clinic walls.
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