Laura Hasn't Slept

**Laura Hasn't Slept** is a 2020 horror short film written and directed by Parker Finn. The film stars Caitlin Stasey and Lew Temple. It premiered on March 25, 2020, and debuted at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival was virtual that year.

## Synopsis

*Desperate to rid herself of a recurring nightmare, a young woman seeks the help of her therapist.*

## Plot

Laura breathes deeply a couple of times as she lays on a couch. She then asks if a dream feels real, it can then affect you in the real world. She then proceeds to ask someone if a nightmare has the potential to kill you in the real world.

A man’s voice is then heard asking Laura if she is having nightmares again. Eventually a man sitting on a separate couch, asks Laura if that is the reason she is there today.

Laura sits up, and proceeds to take a sip of water. She is fidgety, and nervous as she asks her therapist if she can get a cup of coffee.

The therapist acquiesces and buzzes his secretary named Rene, and asks her to bring them some coffee. While they wait, he asks Laura again if she is having nightmares.

Laura takes a moment, before answering that she is, but it is only one nightmare in particular. However, she has had it without stopping since the week before.

The therapist asks Laura to tell him about it. Thus, she explains that the dream is the same every time. It’s just that it starts differently. In her dream, she might be at work, in her apartment, on the train, etc. Wherever she is, Laura explains how she gets this terrible nervous feeling in her stomach. She knows something is wrong, but she can’t remember what it is. Then, a man appears, and Laura explains how it is the same man in every dream. He is smiling at her, but it is not a friendly smile. Moreover, Laura mentions how there is also something that matters with the man’s eyes. She sighs as she rubs her eyes, before proceeding to state how she has never been this scared of anything in her life, like she is with this man.

This recurring nightmare is taking a toll on her, as there are days where she lies wide awake at night, unable to sleep. Laura mentions to her therapist that she really doesn’t want to see him again. Eventually, the therapist pages his secretary Rene, and tells her to cancel the coffee order. Laura then admits that she feels like she is slowly losing her mind.
Her therapist then tells Laura that what she is doing is not healthy. That sleep is essential to one’s mental wellbeing. Unintentionally, Laura gets agitated and yells out that she knows what she is doing is unhealthy. But she just gets the feeling that the next time she falls asleep that it is going to be bad.

Laura then goes on to mention that the man in her dreams is not necessarily someone she recognizes. That it is really hard to put it in words. But everytime she falls asleep, the man has a different face. She tries to explain how it feels like the aforementioned man is wearing a disguise. In other words, it is like a mask, but even that definition doesn't quite fit because it’s also very much a face. She frantically explains how it doesn’t ultimately matter, because she knows it is him every single time. Laura continues by saying that she can also tell by looking at the man’s eyes, along with noticing the way the man says her name. Every time, it gets lower and lower.

The therapist then asks Laura if she thinks there’s a reason why this man continues to appear to her. Laura tearfully says that this man’s motive for essentially haunting her is that he wants to show her his true face. In other words, the one he has behind the face he is currently wearing. She admits that it sounds crazy, but that ultimately, she is really scared that if she sees the man’s true face, she will die.

The therapist then asks her point blank why she is here then. To which Laura explains that she is here to put an end to these horrible nightmares that she keeps on having. However, the therapist reiterates that is not what he is really asking her, and asks her again why she is here with him.

Her therapist then asks Laura how she happened to get to this office to discuss her dreams with him. He then asks her if she thinks he is her therapist. He doesn’t stop and continues to go on by asking Laura if they had even met before. She is initially confused until it suddenly dawns on her after he asks her if she is certain that she is not dreaming right now.

Suddenly, things get darker in the room, some cracking sounds can be heard, as the shelves full of books begin to fall. Laura breathes deeply as she stares at who she thought was her therapist.

However, said therapist’s lips begin to quiver, as he begins to smile menacingly. He taunts her by telling her how she seemed awfully tired. Laura closes her eyes, but even sitting down, the man continues to smile, even after his eyes roll to the back of his eye. Till only the white husks remains. She yells out to him to stay away from her, and it is then she notices the door to his office. She makes a run for it, but when she opens the aforementioned doors, there is nothing but a wall blocking her exit.

The man keeps yelling out her name from behind and starts to stand up. But the sound of what seems to be bones cracking are heard loud and clear by Laura. Despite her fears, she turns around, and the man tells her how there’s something he wants to show her. He slowly begins to pull at his face, and she turns back around. She slaps her face a couple of times as she tells herself that none of this is real.

Undeterred, the man continues to yell out to Laura to look at him. Each time he yells out her name, his voice gets lower and raspier. She doesn’t listen to him, and instead covers her eyes with her hands. Laura yells out once more that he isn’t real, and the rooms get even darker and eerily quiet. She eventually takes her hands away from her face, and looks around the room. She hears some footsteps around her. She walks around till eventually, the man pops up, showing her his true face. She wails and much like the man before her, Laura pulls at her face, causing her eyes to bleed.

## Cast and Characters

* Caitlin Stasey as Laura Weaver
* Lew Temple as Dr. Parsons

## Themes

The film was inspired by not only the horrors of trauma, but it was heavily influenced by films like *Nightmare on Elm Street*.

## Trivia

* In July 2022, Finn revealed this short will be included as bonus material in the Blue-Ray release of *Smile*.
* However, on November 28, 2022, Paramount Movies released the entire short on their official YouTube Channel.
* On November 30, 2022, it was revealed by Finn that after “*Laura Hasn’t Slept* premiered at South by Southwest in 2020, that was where Paramount first saw the short film. Thus, this became the origin of everything that became *Smile*.”
* On December 1, 2022, the 11-minute short film, which was published to the Paramount Entertainment Australia YouTube channel, and then everywhere else shortly thereafter.
* On December 13, 2022, the Blue Ray commentary revealed several caveats of information.
	+ Caitlin Stasey reprises her role from the short in the feature film. Moreover, Finn designed it to be a parallel that “would go in a very different direction than the short”. The experience that Laura describes also foreshadows everything that Rose Cotter will go through over the course of the movie. Lastly, the entire scene – a complicated sequence with emotional performances, technical camerawork, and special effects – was shot in a single day.
	+ The title drop had to be altered to avoid causing seizures after discovering that the original version failed the Harding test, meaning that it could trigger photosensitive people.
* The song that plays at the end of the short is "I Had a Dream" by Al Hazan which was released in 1962.

## Gallery

### Videos

Laura Hasn't Slept Wins Excellence in Poster Design Competition - 2020 SXSW Film AwardsSmile - Exclusive Clip from the Short Film That Inspired the Horror Blockbuster (2022) Parker FinnSMILE - "Laura Hasn't Slept" Original Short Film - Paramount Movies
## References

1. ↑ What is the horror movie ‘Smile’ based on? - We Got This Covered
2. ↑ Watch Parker Finn’s Short Film that Launched the Feature Film ‘Smile’ - DRC
3. ↑ Watch ‘Laura Hasn’t Slept’ the Short Film That Lead to ‘Smile’ - iHorror
4. ↑ Laura Hasn't Slept, The Short Film That Inspired Smile, Is Now Streaming Online - Slash Film
5. ↑  Laura Hasn't Slept Reddit post - Reddit
6. ↑ Smile: Paramount has shared the original short film, Laura Hasn’t Slept -JoBlo
7. ↑ ‘Laura Hasn’t Slept’ – Watch the Original Short Film That Became This Year’s ‘Smile’ - Bloody Disgusting
8. ↑ 'Laura Hasn't Slept': The Short Film That Inspired 'Smile' Is Now Streaming - Collider
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 ‘Smile’ – Six Things We Learned from the Blu-ray’s Commentary Track - Bloody Disgusting
10. ↑ I Had a Dream by Al Hazan - Marmoset Music