Sleep Tight - DVD

Film: César (Luis Tosar) works as a doorman in an apartment building in Barcelona. He is either treated disparagingly by the tenants, or barely noticed. Still, César tries to always be friendly - especially to the fun-loving, attractive Clara (Marta Etura). At first glance, it almost seems as if the unassuming doorman is secretly in love with the young woman. But it's actually just the opposite: Clara's lust for life and her almost unwavering cheerfulness cause César to feel angry and nauseous. And so he has only one goal to silence his inner demons again: he must turn Clara's happiness into pure misery. And for this he has already devised a particularly perfidious plan...

Sleep Tight is, after the first two parts of the [rec]-series, another successful genre contribution by director Jaume Balagueró, who this time swaps bloody horror for disturbing psychological thriller. Extremely quiet, but therefore very effective, Balagueró builds the story around a man who only has a reason to live because of the suffering of other people. With a consistently oppressive atmosphere, a touch of jet-black humor and carried by an extremely strong performance by Luis Tosar (And then the rain, Open my eyes), the film proves to be a real thriller pearl of a particularly nasty kind, especially towards the end.

The most fascinating aspect of the production is certainly that Balagueró has managed to draw the character of César in such a way that he doesn't really seem unsympathetic. It is revealed relatively quickly that he is up to no good and actually all sympathies of the audience should be on Clara's side at this point at the latest. After all, she is always nice and doesn't treat César as condescendingly as some of the other inhabitants of the house. And yet, one hopes that César doesn't get caught, that he can continue to maintain his quiet and helpful facade and carry out his plan to the end - if only to find out what his plan is actually about. César is simply a highly intriguing character, from whom an extremely high level of tension emanates despite the rather quiet narrative.

With atmospheric imagery, some great goosebump moments and a finale that is truly shocking in its viciousness, Sleep Tight is one of the positive surprises of the 2012 cinema year. It is a film that, without much blood or shock effects, deprives its viewers of sleep while amusing them in a particularly mean way. Therefore, if you like nasty little psycho-thrillers, you should definitely not miss this film just because of Luis Tosar. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: In the numerous dark scenes there are a few small weaknesses in the representation of details. Otherwise, however, the DVD's picture is convincing with atmospheric colouring, good black level matching and decent overall sharpness. The audio captures the gritty atmosphere of the film very well. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, while very subdued overall, renders the dialogue, music, and minor sound effects in a coherent manner, and also provides a bit of goosebumps here and there as a result. Good!

Extras: In addition to the main film, the DVD has some short cut scenes (12:50 min.), a short but worth watching making of (13:24 min.), as well as the trailer for the film and other programming tips from the provider on board.

Conclusion: Sleep Tight is a nasty little psychological thriller that scores with a darkly evil story and a great Luis Tosar. For lovers of unusual thrillers, this technically well-realized DVD is therefore an absolute must, despite the rather meager bonus material!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp