Cinema Lounge Reviews

A failing radio presenter in New York tries to get his ratings back on track by attempting to break the world record of staying awake for 11 days straight. However, when he receives a call from a stranger demanding him to raise $5 million otherwise he will be killed.

Firstly its probably best to start with the beginning, it can’t be any better even if it tried. From the very beginning of the film, we are met with the main characters of the film and are given an insight into their lives so it’s easier to understand them better throughout the movie. Not only that but, the dramatic start also gets straight into the action so it doesn’t drag with any unnecessary parts, therefore, meaning they are no slow start at all which is a good thing in my opinion. Throughout the film, the story also changes the entire mood of the film starting with a friendly appeal to it and then all of a sudden changes to a more scary feel to create a dramatic effect to keep us interested.

The overall storyline of the film is completely original to anything I have seen before which keeps us more interested and somewhat more entertained than the normal blockbuster hits because it has never been done before and means that we don’t know what to expect throughout. The opening also delivers scenes that already spark questions in our heads and means that we will want to keep watching to find out the answers to what really is going on. The setting of the movie is always set in a modern-day view of New York City set in the middle of Times Square and doesn’t really change scenery at all from there which could be a small negative as it would have been nice to see a change of scenery every one in a while. To make up for some of the small negatives, they are a huge plot turn around at the end and other story relevant plot twists throughout to keep us watching and also means it gets more energetic espically towards the end of the film.

Something to say overall about the movie’s production is that it is shot in excellent quality as well as a perfect soundtrack to go with it. To say what the storyline is, it isn’t a very long production meaning that it doesn’t bore us although at some points it does get that way a bit. The movie is mostly in the thriller genre with also some small hints of horror and comedy hidden in there for us to enjoy also. As well as all this, it also opens with some beautiful shots of New York City to tell us right away where the main plot point is going to be set.

The cast of the movie features a dynamic set of characters with character development for some of them but mostly for the main character of the film Rick Weider. The scenes in the movie are well written and directed by some of them do feel as if they are repeated at times with near enough the same opening to each new day of Rick’s record-breaking attempt as well as some of them feeling a bit too far fetched in my opinion. For instance, because some of the side effects for not sleeping is hallucinating, we are greeted over and over again with scenes from a talking grasshopper and another weird CGI installment which Rick experiences in his hallucinations as it is shot from his perspective.

Personally, I feel as if they could have made this movie work well even without some of the far fetched scenes even though I do understand why they did include them. As well as it is a fantastic original story to watch, it at times can be educational as it shows us the real effects when we don’t sleep or don’t take enough sleep such as hallucinations, personality change for slowly drifting into a psychopath and also nose bleeds which do include a few gruesome scenes with blood with also a very small scene of what appears to be self-harming. So if you are ever thinking about watching this then just be mindful about these parts if you don’t like the sound of some of them. What really sparks the horror genre here is when they include a couple of silent scenes which makes us feel like we are there with them because we are on the edge of our seats fearing what is to come next.

In conclusion, I did enjoy this movie and do recommend it to you if you fancy something different to watch for a change. Just be mindful of the gruesome scenes I mentioned above.