IN THEIR SLEEP

Ah, what a pleasure to see actress Anne Parillaud (La Femme Nikita, Innocent Blood) back on our screens - even if it's for rather more aggressively nasty fare during this outing. In Their Sleep (Dans Ton Sommeil) falls squarely into the 'home invasion' genre of horror, albeit with a lot of action taking place elsewhere - and a twist in the tale which you may or may not spot coming...

Sarah (Parillaud) stars as Sarah, a woman who divides her time between her career as a nurse and her family: she's married, and the mother of a teenaged son, who is as irascible and awkward as teenage kids often are. However, in one of those sudden about-face moments which modern horror leans so heavily upon, Sarah's family is about to decimated by an accident. It's goodbye happy familiarity and hello to life alone - with Sarah quietly trying to maintain normality, whilst struggling with insomnia and the subsequent work-related risks which a sleepless nurse brings. Things are falling apart, and Sarah is finally sent home from work until she can demonstrate that she really is coping. Angry, upset, tired; she gets in her car and starts on the trip back home.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sarah's car hits someone: a young man, who ran out of the dark of the roadside. Shocked, she gets out to help him. Although he's hurt, as soon as he's able he pleads with Sarah to get him out of there. Sarah soon discovers what he means - and why he was running - when a vehicle driven by a seemingly deranged man gives chase. The boy is clearly terrified; Sarah now can't help but make it her business to protect him, and so she makes for her place.

The man isn't giving up without a fight however, and continues to pursue them. The young man, Arthur (Arthur Dupont) explains that he interrupted the man as he burgled his house- seeing his unmasked face in the process - and that the man is trying to kill him for this reason. But something about his story doesn't make sense…during the intense, bloody game of cat and mouse which ensues, Sarah is repeatedly torn between her desire to nurture her mysterious stranger and her suspicion that there is more he isn't telling her.

There is much to commend this film: firstly, the performances are very good indeed. Parillaud is on top form here and seems to have been really put through her paces by the directors, showing a fine ability to convey extreme anguish and emotional turmoil, and the on-screen relationship between her character and Arthur is compelling. There is a great deal of emotional layering within the film; Sarah's background allows for her complex reactions to her surprise guest.

Dupont is great in his part too: magnetic and intense, a lesser actor could not have held maintained the suspense which is so absolutely integral to the film. This is definitely a well-made thriller, its cinematography and the use of a certain colour palates reminiscent of other recent French horrors. And, as with the run of recent French horrors, when this film gets violent, it doesn't hold back on the agony or the bloodshed.

The only stumbling block for me was its immense similarity to another film - namely, Funny Games. I cannot with any justification say this was definitely intentional, but to me it seemed like a furtherance of so many elements within the earlier film - providing context and a back story to a similar tale of otherwise nonsensical, random cruelty occurring within the middle-class home and perpetrated by people seemingly 'just like' the victims. Finding myself thinking this certainly didn't spoil the viewing experience, although the impact was rather changed.

If you're a fan of dark, sophisticated, harrowing thrillers then you cannot go far wrong in checking out In Their Sleep. It's a stylish, nightmarish movie, nicely made and very much of its era and its country of origin: if you liked Inside, then I'd say it's fairly safe that you'll like this too.

The DVD release comes with the original trailer, audio options (5.1 surround sound or 2.0 stereo) and subtitles options. The film is chaptered, but only into four parts.

Review by Keri O'Shea