‘Somnium’ – Disjointed Genre Movie Manifests Hollywood Nightmares [Review]

The age-old maxim about how writers should “write what they know” can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes, what you know doesn’t exactly make for engaging storytelling, and I’ve always been of the opinion that creativity doesn’t necessarily depend on life experience.

Thankfully, the horror genre makes it easy for storytellers to add speculative flair to their autobiographical yarns, and this is definitely the case with indie director Racheal Cain and her debut feature Somnium. A deeply personal passion project over 12 years in the making, Somnium combines Racheal’s own experience of moving to LA and trying to build a life for herself in the entertainment industry with fears derived from a childhood immersed in manifestation doctrine and sensory deprivation tanks.

After years of saving up money and pitching her project to investors – as well as setting up a surprisingly successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2018 after shooting the flashback scenes guerilla style, Cain is finally unleashing her long-gestating thriller on the world with the help of Yellow Veil Pictures.

In the finished film, we follow small town girl and aspiring actress Gemma (Chloë Levine) as she moves out to Hollywood in order to chase her dreams. Unable to find a conventional job to keep herself afloat in between auditions, she accepts a position as a “sleep sitter” at a mysterious sleep clinic that promises to bring dreams to life through experimental treatments. Unfortunately, side effects may include a mind-bending dose of surreal terror as dreams begin to bleed into reality.

The story of a starry-eyed ingénue stumbling into Hollywood’s seedy underbelly has admittedly been done to death at this point, but Somnium stands out from the crowd due to its polished visuals and remarkably charming lead character. Levine is an absolute delight to watch as Gemma, with the actress repeatedly elevating scenes whether they’re intimate flashbacks or emotional breakdowns resulting from her character having encountered otherworldly shadow creatures beyond her comprehension.

The film also looks much more expensive than it is, with stylish cinematography and impressive practical effects being used to bring a recurring humanoid nightmares to life. Unfortunately, it seems that Cain was more interested in the slice-of-life elements of Gemma’s story than exploring the legitimately interesting mystery that she sets up at the Somnium sleep clinic. This means that nearly all of Somnium’s most interesting elements are relegated to the background of an overly familiar character study.

From deeply uninteresting flashback sequences to common film school tropes like forcing us to accompany Gemma through the entirety of her morning routine (as well as silly moments like having her wistfully reminisce over old diary entries), it’s clear that Somnium’s script needed a few more drafts before it was ready for shooting.

At the very least, it might have been a good idea to edit the picture down even further, as it feels like there are three films fighting for control of the narrative here. One of them is a middle-of-the-road drama about a naïve girl recovering from a not-so-traumatic breakup, the next is a familiar tale about an aspiring actress trying to make it in a hostile town, and the final one is a sci-fi horror flick about a sleep clinic with a dark secret. Unfortunately, the last option is simultaneously the most compelling and the one that Cain seems the least interested in developing to a satisfying conclusion.

And since we’ve seen better versions of this story before in films like The Neon Demon, MaXXXine and even Netflix’s Brand New Cherry Flavor, it’s a real shame that the director would sideline the most original element of her screenplay. There are plenty of eerily effective background scares here, as well as philosophical musings about dreams and reality that feel uncharacteristically poignant for a horror flick, so it’s not like Cain is incapable of making an effective scary movie. That’s why I find it so baffling that Gemma’s spooky job isn’t the main focus of the film like the marketing suggests.

I won’t get into spoilers, but this becomes especially frustrating when Somnium rushes through its horror elements only to resolve everything with an ending so comically upbeat that I initially thought Cain was preparing us for a twist where Gemma is somehow still undergoing treatment at the clinic. And though I appreciate the positive message about achieving your dreams in face of horrific adversity (especially in a genre so used to downer endings), I have quite a few issues with the film’s portrayal of manifestation as anything other than a dangerous pseudoscience.

That being said, there’s still a lot to like about this strange little thriller if you’re willing to enjoy it as a drama with the occasional flash of horror instead of the other way around. Hardcore genre fans will likely be disappointed with Somnium’s lack of commitment to its scary roots, but there’s still enough of a creative spark here to keep the movie interesting even during its less fantastical moments.

And since most of the movie’s faults seem to come from an earnest lack of experience rather than a lack of talent, I’m excited to see what Rachel Cain can come up with for her next feature.

Somnium will have a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles (8/29) and New York City (9/6) before becoming available on streaming on September 9th.