In My Sleep


In My Sleep is a 2010 suspense thriller film written, directed and produced by film director Allen Wolf. It stars Philip Winchester, Lacey Chabert, Tim Draxl, Abigail Spencer and Kelly Overton. It also features Kirsten Vangsness from Criminal Minds and Tony Hale from Veep in cameo roles. The film focuses on a massage therapist with chronic insomnia who fears he may have murdered a friend while sleepwalking.

Synopsis

Cast

wrote, directed and produced In My Sleep. The film entered post production in August 2009, after having resolved several technical glitches before moving into sound design, music scoring and visual effects. Sound design was handled by Hollywood's Jonathan Miller, whose works include Independence Day, Saw, Narc, Trainspotting, The [Hills Have Eyes Part II], and many others, while music scoring was completed by Conrad Pope, who also orchestrated Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Horton Hears a Who!, Julie & Julia and The [Curious Case of Benjamin Button |The Curious Case of Benjamin Button], and who recorded the score in Bulgaria and Los Angeles. Ralph Winter was the executive producer. Alyssa Weisberg, who won an Emmy for casting Lost and also cast Star Trek, was the casting director.

Release

Premiere

On November 6, 2009, In My Sleep screened at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice Award. The film has sold to over seventy countries around the world and has been translated into German, French and Spanish.

Box office

In My Sleep has gotten a limited release, screening in more than fifteen cities and still in theatrical release in 2011, earning as much as $9,285 in one screening, becoming the #1 new indie movie of opening weekend in Los Angeles. As of July 2011 the film's total gross has come to $90,093.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 13% based on reviews from 16 critics. While critics conceded that the premise was interesting, they denounced the film as talky, dull, and technically shoddy. In a positive review, Duane Burges of Hollywood Reporter">Cinema of the United States">Hollywood Reporter wrote "A well-stirred titillation that will appeal to twentysomething audiences and movie-buff viewers who appreciate the pursued-pursuer, Hitchcockian style of suspenser. "In My Sleep" works because the protagonist, while flawed, is completely likable and honorable. Philip Winchester exudes an integrity, as well as a gritty determination, which makes us root for him. John Anderson wrote in Variety that it "boasts all the cerebral and aesthetic restraint of a West Hollywood dance club," and "Production values are dire, with too much lighting and not enough design." In the Los Angeles Times, Gary Goldstein wrote "Writer-director Allen Wolf loads In My Sleep with so much psychosexual baggage you wish he just focused on one emotional affliction to propel this mediocre whodunit," and concludes "It's ultimately all too contrived and superficial to feel convincing, despite the story's often lurid appeal."

Awards

The film has won several festival awards: "Audience Award" at Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, "Best Feature Film" at Omaha Film Festival, "Best Narrative Film" at the Las Vegas Film Festival, "Audience Award" at the Kansas City Film Festival, "Gold Kahuna Award" at Honolulu Festival and was a finalist for "Best Feature" at Kansas City Film Festival and the Orlando Film Festival.