Intensity 🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Written and Directed by James Ross II
The Southern Gothic film Parasomnia dips into the “dream demon” trope, infusing it with a voodoo twist and a delicious betrayal to spice up the story. Solid performances and carefully crafted character relationships help offset a somewhat pedestrian depiction of the demon.
The textbook definition of Parasomnia is “Disruptive sleep disorders involving undesirable physical behaviors or experiences – such as sleepwalking, sleep terrors, or nightmares – occurring during sleep, upon waking, or between sleep stages. This is the story of Riley, who suffers from night terrors that unleash a demonic curse, and is tightly told. The deadly sleep demon, of course, is a trope famously exploited by A Nightmare on Elm Street. It is the curse that you cannot control. You can’t stave off sleep, and you are at the mercy of your dreams. The boogeyman is a generational trope, an impression handed down from the Sandman forward.
Parasomnia uses this foundational trope fairly traditionally, to begin with. When Riley has a night terror, the dreams conjure a demon that hunts those nearby, consumes their eyes, and kills them. OK… that’s cool, but not exactly the peak of originality. However, it is the intertwined relationships between Riley and her friends that shine. It allows for a backstabbing moment in the second act that turns the whole story on its head. Sometimes the monster is merely an environmental control element. It’s the human antagonists who become the real threat, and so it is with Parasomnia, and it absolutely makes the film click.
I have always been a proponent of strong portrayals of protagonists. So, if I’m into the characters, I’m willing to overlook production flaws. Such is the case for me with Parasomnia. Despite the familiarity of the trope and the rather uninspired-looking demon, the movie manages to weave a compelling story that had me engaged to the finish line.
The Cast of Parasomnia
- Jasmine Mathews plays Riley, an orphaned young woman whose night terrors manifest a curse that took her parents and has now returned with a vengeance.
- RJ Brown plays Cam, Riley’s boyfriend, whom she met in a grief counseling session. Cam lost his father in an unsolved mystery that has him searching for answers.
- Stephen Barrington plays David, Riley’s best friend since their time in a group home together as kids. David is fully aware of what Riley’s night terrors may serve up.
- Simon Longnight plays The Seer, the eye-eating demon summoned by Riley in her night terrors.
- Danny Brown plays David’s girlfriend, who struggles with understanding the perils of the Seer.
- Sally Stewart plays Mama, a voodoo priestess who knows far too much about the Seer.
A Synopsis of Parasomnia
Ten years ago, Riley and David resided in a group home. We follow David as he wakes up early one morning, unaware that Riley has slipped into a terrifying nightmare. David chills out downstairs, plugging in his earbuds and starting his day relaxing to some tunes. A presence emerges and possesses the house mother, Ms. Margaret, as she is doing laundry. David, startled from his relaxation, senses something wrong. Realizing that Riley’s curse may be in effect, he pounds on her door, trying to wake her, but it’s too late. The group home matron has killed two of the other teens at the home. Ms. Margaret has gouged their eyes out, and her own as well, a sacrifice to the Seer, establishing the threat from beyond.
Fast forward to today. It is Riley’s birthday, and she’s having a small party at her house. David is there too, along with his girlfriend, and Riley’s boyfriend, Cam. A round of drinking games establishes that Riley is capable of hyperventilating to make herself instantly fall asleep. Combining this mastery of her sleep patterns with medication, Riley controls her night terrors. After the night of revelry, the party calls it a night. Once again, David is startled awake. Suspecting something amiss, he checks in on Riley, but Cam tells David that she’s just struggling with sleep apnea, and not night terrors. As David gets ready to head back to bed, he spots a mysterious figure in the backyard, its skeletal mask grinning in the darkness.
This convinces David that it is time to go. He has seen what this demon is capable of, and he wants to be nowhere near it. Riley insists that she has things under control, but David nopes out. Uh uh. Not going to be around when the bad stuff happens. Riley’s dreams have her trapped in a subterranean tunnel, and old, terrible memories flicker in along with the looming presence of the pale-faced demon. David and his girlfriend quickly hit the road, anxious to be as far from the Seer as possible. Why have Riley’s nightmares resurfaced? It’s a pattern. And it turns out there is a mysterious voodoo priestess who has been manipulating her this whole time. Also, this woman has had inside assistance, forcing the Seer to the surface of Riley’s subconscious.
A trap has been set. David has gone missing. The bait has been placed. A ceremonial mask holds the key, and it will grant power and control visions from the demon to those who wield it, charged with the tears of the innocent. Can Riley wrest control of her fears, or will she become a pawn in a much bigger game?
Evaluation of Parasomnia
The strength of this film can be boiled down to the relationships:
- The trusting group-home sibling relationship of Riley and David.
- Riley and Cam’s shared trauma survivor bond.
- Mama’s targeted relationship with Riley. (Though Riley is largely unaware of Mama.)
- Mama’s conspiratorial relationship with her accomplice.
- The accomplice’s awful betrayal of Riley.
There was much thought and careful plotting with all of these bonds. Positive points to James Ross II for the connective web written for these characters.
This is a movie that relies upon a big plot reveal: the betrayal. This is the horrifying part of the story. It is tragic, and savory at the same time. It is the kind of moment where you think both “Oh noooo…” and “Oh yessss…” Honestly, it put a huge smile on my face. There is a subtle time manipulation in the film’s narration that works well. It’s not a completely non-linear narrative, but the timeline’s construction is well-crafted. You get key information at the right moment. It plays very well as a mystery.
Unfortunately, the movie’s horror elements are very straightforward. The Seer’s abilities and backstory are not as well fleshed out as the human characters. It very much feels like a tool, or a MacGuffin. The demon does look better toward the end of the movie, with some cool prosthetic jaw action, but for most of the movie, it looks like an evil mime. It’s just not as horrifying as it should have been. This may have been a movie that would have benefited from not showing the monster much and leaving it to the imagination. Momma, on the other hand, is a wonderful villain. (Once again, kudos to the antagonists.)
Concluding Thoughts:
This bears all the hallmarks of an independent horror film that took some big swings with a very tight budget. The wicked plot manipulations are terrific, and the characters are well drawn. But some decisions about how to present the horror felt capped by the budget. The nightmare visions had an annoying, shaky-cam presentation that lacked vibrancy, and the Seer really could have used some leveling up.
That said, for the plotting and scheming, this movie was a hoot to watch. I was particularly enamored with Stephen Barrington’s portrayal of David and Sally Stewart’s Mama. I’d like to see them in more films. James Ross II has terrific writing instincts, and his directorial skills show promise, if a bit visually raw at the moment.
Parasomnia originally showed at the 2025 FrightFest London and was one of the features at the 2026 Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans. The film clocks in at 1 hour and 25 minutes and is unrated. The movie would likely receive an R rating for gore, violence, and language, but it isn’t extreme in any of these elements for a horror movie. There isn’t a wide release date set yet.
Review by Eric Li
