Stanislavsky and didn't dream One of the features of Spanish horror is the increased role of the collective, expressed in the images of hospitals, shelters and other isolated places in which a whole group of people runs. It is one thing when your comfort is disturbed by a witch, a maniac or a single vampire, and it is quite another when you are taken into circulation by a system controlled by the collective will.
'Insomnia' takes us to a long-closed psychiatric clinic, in which, of course, there are still ghosts of those to whom various treatments were applied here, including ' alternative' methods of treatment. And in the 80s, when the film takes place, the building was taken care of by theatergoers led by Alma, who tries to extract an ingot of talent from the actors, tormenting them with hunger, suffocation, hypnosis and other methods ' alternative' methods. When hopeful Bianca decides to star in Alma’s new experimental production, a new creative method is on the agenda – sleep deprivation.
As you know, after three days without sleep, hallucinations and other perceptual disorders become something like the norm, and even later depersonalization begins. Such knowledge gives the viewing of the picture an amazing two-layeredness - you can consider the implantation of Bianca in the role from a medical point of view, or you can get carried away by creepy scenery and look for ghosts together with the girl, peering through the flame of a candle into the depths of the gloomy corridors of the clinic blown by the wind. So, the conclusions from the film can be different – depending on whether you like a thriller or a haunted movie.
Alma and the company take into circulation not only Bianca, but also the ghost of a mentally ill Dora, whose role went to the girl. The creative process is above otherworldly forces, fears and the very human nature, which requires sleep and rest. But it seems that the main game here is played with madness – Bianca, who is 20% likely to inherit her father’s mental illness, is offered the role of the woman who killed her husband. And in this role you need to get used to losing yourself.
'Only one who has lived side by side with madness can build trust in a madman and understand him', says Sarah, who helps Bianca, who in an abandoned creepy clinic was able to find answers to her questions. Cecilia, Alma, Sarah – all the new acquaintances of Bianchi are a little crazy, but especially charismatic was Fonzo, the son of Alma, who in a dilapidated abandoned building, where it was known what was before, feels like a fish in the water, as if feeding on the very atmosphere of the place.
The old building again attracts ' theirs ' people who are now united by a common goal - having walked the tightrope of insomnia, plunge into the abyss of their fears and hopes in order to bring to light the most beautiful of the dancing stars. But are they capable of it? And isn't it because they desperately need Bianchi's acting that she's healthy? A madman can understand a madman, but can a madman cure a madman?
7 out of 10
Original