Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SLEEP NO MORE [Berlinale - Berlin, Germany]
The context of "Sleep No More" [Special Midnight] revolves in the fact of workers pushing themselves to the bone to the point of possession. The film uses the context of a factory in Indonesia where everyone is just trying to scrape by. They lose themselves in a sense of who they are and who they are within the company. Three siblings led by Petri all have different ideas of what life should be like. Petri is haunted by the death of her mother which happened while she was working. As always, accidents will happen but she finds that in the guise of the head manager of the company: Maryati that there is something more sinister going on. Maryati wants to motivate her workers by letting them hear what they want to hear, not unlike Big Brother. All this time the concept of something growing inside (festering if you will) takes a more realistic vision specific in the character of her brother Bona. He seems to have body parts being cut off and regrown of his own volition yet he is being attacked at the same time. This is the first sign of supernatural elements within the movie. He seems to be in a great deal of suffering but the idea is that he is taking on the sins of others so they might be delivered.
In this way, a certain metaphorical texture begins to take shape. Specifically though some of the workers, including an older woman, the narrative tries to assume that nothing is going on (at least in the minds of others) and that they must stay together as a community which is innocently ignorant. As Petri and a certain band of co-workers stand together, the real menace makes itself known. It is an interesting creature to be sure though its ultimate goal is a bit elusive but the organic nature of how it is constructed in relation to what the factory does makes total sense even if it does stretch it a little. Its connection to Maryati is evident but even her flashback and why she became intertwined with it seems to be just a cult of personality. That said, the effects as they ramp up in the final third of the film are undeniably practical and are, in some ways, very much retro and yet beautiful (reminiscent in certain shots of "The Thing"). While director Edwin tries to give the film its macabre humorous twists towards the end, there is of course a bigger context where the cycle could (and likely will) start again. "Sleep No More" tries to do certain things but is uneven in its delivery though does try to push its boundaries closer to the end. B-
By Tim Wassberg
