REVIEW | Ryan Morrissey-Smith
- Director: Edwin
- Writer: Edwin, Eka Kurniawan, Daishi Matsunaga
- Stars: Didik Nini Thowok, Rachel Amanda, Lutesha, Iqbaal Dhiafakhri Ramadhan
The Evergreen company wants you to work until you die… and then get up and do it again.
Playing at Fantasia International Film Festival – Sleep No More is a savage commentary on capitalism and worker exploitation.
Putri (Amanda) travels to collect her mother’s things after her death whilst working at the Evergreen wig factory. Putri’s mother Augustina owes the Evergreen company from a loan she took out and due to her debt, the owner of the factory Maryati (a fantastic Didik Nini Thowok) seems to think she may have killed herself.
Putri is joined by her sister Ida (Lutesha), as Putri works off her mother’s debt, Ida begins to uncover some disturbing accidents and behaviour at the company’s wig shop compound. She thinks people are becoming possessed whilst working, the more exhausted and over worked, the more susceptible to being possessed. When their brother Bona (Ramadhan) turns up and his supernatural power is discovered – he can regrow lost body parts – which peaks the interest of the supernatural entities that live in the compound.
Indonesian director Edwin works well with the palate that Cinematographer Akiko Ashizawa provides. Evergreen’s is a creepy looking building, and they make the most of it.
The almost cynical depiction of workers being exploited verges on the darkest of comedies. Maryati’s consistent announcements about how the company values its employees is perfect corporate speak. It does speak to how this is done in workplaces, today perhaps not to these extremes but it you can’t miss the point that is being made.
Light on for scares but with some shocking moments, Sleep No More shows us that the really scary thing is people that think money is more valuable than humans.
Played at Fantasia International Film Festival.
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