Insomnia: a short film

Horror | Supernatural Thriller | North American | English

Writer | Director | Producer:  Kody Zimmermann

Starring: Luisa Jojic, Fable Zimmermann

Co-Producers: Al Cooper, Sophie Zimmermann, Sarah Watts, Lecily Corbett, Michael George

Synopsis: In the shadows past midnight, a woman suffering from debilitating sleeplessness realizes she’s being reached out to by something in the dark depths of her closet.

Director’s Statement: Sleep disorders are nasty.  You spend the day feeling like an animated corpse, wishing you could just lay down and let that warm wave of sleep wash over you.  Instead, you find yourself awake during hours that can only be characterized as unholy.  And since most of us aren’t cops, criminals or vampires, finding yourself walking around during this period just isn’t right.  The world is asleep, your house is asleep; worse yet, part of you is asleep.  After a few days, your mind can’t differentiate between reality and its inner hallucinations.

Insomnia (the short) came to me during a particularly nasty case of insomnia (the disorder) last year.  The clock slows down to a crawl, the pillow becomes a war zone against comfort, your eyes feel agitated and cold.  Past sins and guilt set up shop in your thoughts, and melatonin is about as effective as bullets on Superman’s chest.  It’s only when low unintelligible noises start emitting from the closet do you start fearing for your sanity.  Worse yet is when the noises become voices.  My wife is lucky: these days she has the closet all to herself.

Technical Detail: Color / 1.78 (16×9 video) / Alexa HDV