MovieChat Forums > The Nightmare (2015) Discussion > Good biopic, not so much a documentary

Good biopic, not so much a documentary

posted 9 years ago by wysoft
3 replies | jump to latest

We enjoyed this, as both my wife and I have experience sleep paralysis a couple of times in our lives. My wife found it especially eerie when the subjects mentioned the shadowy figures with red eyes, as during her one experience with sleep paralysis she had awaken to see a shadowy dog with red eyes in her room.

The visuals and descriptions of the states of sleep paralysis are very accurate.. I never experienced the "shadow men" myself but remember vividly as a child waking up in my room, hearing noises I couldn't describe, being unable to move or speak - I tried to cry out to my parents in the next room, but all I could do was breathe and wheeze. Next thing I knew I woke up in the morning, and I knew what had happened to me was real, but couldn't describe it to anyone.

It's amazing how so many of these experiences include similar imagery and phenomenon.

However we were both sort of disappointed that there was no scientific aspect to this "documentary" at all whatsoever. We kept wondering when the personal stories would end and we might get to hear from someone specializing in the science of sleep - anybody that might be able to provide some insight into what might be happening in the human brain during these episodes. Nope, nothing.

That's the only thing that takes away from an otherwise great film, and I feel that without that aspect it's sort of hard to call this a "documentary" on sleep paralysis..

[–] abbycatt 9 years ago

I agree with you. I enjoyed hearing the stories, and found it particularly interesting that so much of each story seems to be a shared experience by many who suffer sleep paralysis. That part really intrigued me.
I wish they had wandered a but into the scientific opinion on the disorder as well. Would you happen to know any good resources (website) to read up on medical, psychological, and scientific ideas on this topic?

[–] wysoft 9 years ago

Nothing off the top of my head, in the past I have just dug down through search results, etc. Nothing too concrete. The potential causes are all over the place. Given what I've read, I'm amazed it doesn't affect more people.

[–] mystee_reyne 9 years ago

Well there's actually some information on Wikipedia that addresses the possible physiological causes--stress, your mind waking up before your body has, entering the hypnagogic state of sleep (which I believe is a state you enter right before you fall asleep). All of these things are theory and there are no real "hard" facts. Some people think it's stress or fatigue while others think it's psychological or supernatural/spiritual. There isn't any "evidence" really pointing to one clear answer.