The 32nd annual Philadelphia Film Festival runs October 19-29, 2023 and features over 80 feature films (and numerous shorts!) from over 25 countries. Most films play twice and our own Justin Nordell will be sharing “Philly Film Fest Fast Reviews” to give you a taste of the festival so you can pick and choose which films to make for the second screenings!
When Parasite won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and made over $50 million dollars at the box office, it opened the floodgates on South Korean cinema and its rich history dating back to the 1960s. Characterized by exceptional script work, authentic performances, and often an undercurrent of dark humor, Parasite director Bong Joon-ho captured all of this and more in his character-driven genre-defying thriller. Now, his protégé Jason Yu (assistant director on the delightful Okja streaming now on Netflix) has released his first film Sleep, following in the footsteps of so many South Korean greats that came before.
Sleep follows a pregnant wife (Jung Yu-mi, Train to Busan) who begins to lose sleep of her own when her husband (Lee Sun-kyun, the criminally underseen A Hard Day steaming free on Vudu) inexplicably begins to sleepwalk for the first time in his life. Starting off as nighttime scratching (don’t worry she puts oven mitts on him), things quickly escalate to her husband taking himself to the fridge to eat raw meat and even trying to climb out of the window of their high rise apartment, almost plummeting to his death. They enlist the help of medical professionals to no avail, and after the baby is born, she loses even more sleep fearing for both of their lives as her loving husband becomes increasingly violent with each passing night. Is there a medical cure or is there something more supernatural afoot?
Sleep may boil down to a cliché or two by the time its credits roll, but with a darkly comedic tone, exceptional performances, engaging direction, and a banger of a third act (literally called Chapter 3 by the film), this is a debut feature signifying the arrival of an exciting new talent in South Korea’s Jason Yu. Can’t wait to see what he does next.
In Korean with English subtitles.
Grade: B-
Catch it at PFF23: Friday, October 27th at 10:00pm at the PFS East
Tickets available here.
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