After directing the supernatural horror film Oculus - The Reflection of Evil (2013) and the home invasion The terror of silence (2016), American director Mike Flanagan writes and directs Somnia, a dark fairy tale with dramatic overtones and in which horror and fantasy elements are incorporated. As the Latin title already suggests, the film focuses on the world of dreams and in particular, that of Cody (Jacob Tremblay), a child who is able to materialize his dream visions.
Somnia (USA - 2015) was shown in theaters in our country last May 25 thanks to Koch Media and was recently released for homevideo by Midnight Factory.
In Somnia, Cody (Jacob Tremblay) is adopted by husband and wife Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane). The child immediately manifests his terror of sleep because of an evil presence that disturbs his nighttime dreams, terrorizing him. The two adults attribute his malaise to the stress he has suffered but soon realize that the little one has very special powers as he is able to transport his dreams into reality.
The story of Somnia is sustained by a deeply dramatic and painful basis in which ample (perhaps too much) space is given to feelings. Indeed, the protagonist couple chooses to adopt a child following the loss of their own child. Little Cody, on the other hand, lost his mother at the age of three and has already experienced several failed adoptions.
Against a backdrop stained by grief, in which the various characters are brought together by the grieving process, a situation takes shape that fluctuates between dream and reality, alternating between elements that may seem almost provisional, such as fantasy and horror. The latter in Somnia is almost a whisper, a kind of option used almost at will, to appeal to the masses and also to the segment of the audience devoted to the aforementioned genre. In this sense, Flanagan's new film may be a disappointment for fans of the genre who expect a chilling story.
The dramatic basis of Somnia becomes almost a constant until it prevails in the revealing, unsurprising finale, proving that Flanagan's film work is nothing more than a drama/fantasy with some horror veins.
Somnia enjoys a complex and solid screenplay (by Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard) (although there is no shortage of clichés), as well as mature direction, and, leaving aside instead what might be the expectations of the unabashed horrorphile, the film is an interesting transposition of the dream world of an eight-year-old boy. The film is a mirror of his dreams as well as his nightmares and, as such, has very soft horror elements. Hence the narrowness of the horror moments here reflects all that is lurking in the mind of the talented little protagonist: fear, reminiscences of the past, distortions of reality and memories, and abandonment. A note of credit also for the cinematography (Michael Fimognari), which alternates between bright or dull colors depending on Cody's dreams and nightmares.
In addition to Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane and Jacob Tremblay, the cast includes Dash Mihok, Annabeth Gish, Scottie Thompson, Jay Karnes, Lance E. Nichols and Justin Gordon.
Blu-ray Limited Edition by Midnight Factory
Midnight Factory has released a Limited Edition of. Somnia, available in DVD and Blu-ray formats. Prestigious slipcase edition that contains inside a 6-page double-sided booklet with informative texts written by Manlio Gomarasca, currently art director of the Koch Media subsidiary series.
Among the extra content of Somnia we find the trailer and a special feature on the film.
The audio compartment is provided by the presence of two classic tracks (Italian and English) DTS-HD 5.1 and an innovative Earound for a better listening experience through headphones or earbuds.
