The Nightmare (2015 American film)
The Nightmare is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Rodney Ascher. The film had its world premiere on January 26, 2015 at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and focuses on the topic of sleep paralysis. Ascher chose his subject because it had happened to him in the past. The film's crew initially began approaching participants via "message groups, YouTube videos, and a half dozen books that had been written", but found that participants began approaching them after the documentary's premise was announced. Synopsis. The documentary focuses on people suffering from sleep paralysis , a phenomenon where people find themselves temporarily unable to move, speak, or react to anything while they are falling asleep or awakening. Occasionally this paralysis will be accompanied by physical experiences or hallucinations that have the potential to terrify the individual. In the film, Ascher interviews each participant and then tries to re-create their experiences on film with professional actors. Release. "The Nightmare" premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2015 before making its way to South by Southwest on March 13. The film entered a limited theatrical release on June 5, 2015 while also attaining  an online release. Critical reception. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It holds a rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 58 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a 69 out of 100 rating based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film received praise from media outlets such as Indiewire, Screen Daily, and "Variety", and "Variety" wrote that "Mixing talking heads, surreal bedtime re-creations and shamelessly assaultive scare tactics, Ascher's playful, visually inventive sophomore feature isn’t at the same level as "Room 237" but that "it shares with its predecessor a warped  affection for eccentric storytellers and a desire to give vivid cinematic form to their darkest imaginings, if that is indeed what they are." Shock Till You Drop remarked on how well the film was received at Sundance where one viewer "cried in gratitude of the film", and went on to state that although Ascher did not consult any professional scientists or doctors, the documentary was still effective in inciting terror. "IGN" was more negative, awarding the film a score of 3.5 out of 10 and saying "Like a person floating on the edge of sleep who never quite succumbs, The  Nightmare grazes its subject but never truly dives in."