Following its world premiere at Cannes last year, Jason Yu's South Korean psychological thriller Sleep gets an eerie new trailer ahead of its September 27 theatrical and digital release.
Starring the late Lee Sun-kyun (Parasite) and Jung Yu-mi (Train to Busan), Sleep garnered huge praise from Oscar-winning titan of Korean cinema Bong Joon-ho, who called the thriller “the smartest debut I've seen in ten years”.
In Sleep:
SLEEP follows newlyweds Hyun-su (Lee) and Soo-jin (Jung), whose domestic bliss is disrupted when Hyun-su begins speaking in his sleep, ominously stating, “Someone’s inside.” From that night on, whenever he falls asleep, Hyun-su transforms into someone else, with no recollection of what happened the night before. Overwhelmed with anxiety that he may hurt himself or their young family, Soo-jin can barely sleep because of this irrational fear. Despite treatment, Hyun-su’s sleepwalking only intensifies, and Soo-jin begins to feel that her unborn child may be in danger.
Yu, who worked with Bong as Assistant Director on Okja and also worked with the similarly legendary Lee Chang-dong on the 2018 drama Burning, shot Sleep during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, after which it was released in its native South Korea on September 6, 2023, where it grossed US$10,671,474.
In an interview with Yonhap News, Yu expanded more on his inspiration behind Sleep, which came from excitement and anxiety as he prepared to marry his long-term girlfriend:
“In writing, my goal was, initially, of course, to make a fun genre film. But, since my subject at the time was marriage, I also wanted to talk about married life.” Yu explained: “At first, I was superficially curious about sleepwalking. Then, I wondered what the daily life would look like for a loved one who has to stay by the side of a sleepwalker.”
In case Sleep‘s 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn't sway you, take it from us: Sleep is one of the tightest, tautest thrillers of the year. Don't sleep on it.
You can read our exclusive interview with Sleep director Jason Yu in FANGORIA Vol. 2 Issue 23.
