Parasomnia (2026) (Movie Review)

Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 2026 release Parasomnia. It's a Shudder original and it's coming to Shudder on Friday, September 4th. So, this is a no spoiler review. This one's written and directed by James Ross II, and this is the individual's first feature film. And I'll just say, for a first feature film, this is a very good start for a new filmmaker. And you know, I say new, but this person's been doing like short films prior. But when I say new, I just mean like new for feature films. So, uh this is one of the people who, and I say this a lot with with people who it's their first feature film I'm reviewing, and I see promise in them. I would love to see what this person can do with a bigger budget. Now, hopefully, based off of what people end up seeing in this film, they come and give this guy some money because I would really love to see where things go for this individual's career. So, anyway, going to talk a little bit more about it. Again, Shudder original coming Friday, September 4th. Quick synopsis. It focuses primarily on a woman who you see in the opening sequence a a very defining moment in her life where she loses a friend, a friend just basically disappears. And there's also some other horror-related stuff that goes on immediately. It seems to be tied into her sleeping, like this kind of idea that something bad happens when she goes to sleep and other people happen to be awake in the same house with her. And that's that is what plays out in the very first scene of the film. And it's very good at establishing this premise. And also giving you some intrigue, really hooking you in with some nice horror moments. There is like a nice kind of gore gag that ends up getting thrown in there in the very beginning. And you you know, you have to consider that this is a very low-budget film. And I do think they achieved a decent amount with how it looks and how it feels with having a pretty low budget. So, there's a lot of triumphs with what was pulled off with this film with limited resources. Uh so, that's kind of all I want Oh, I'll give you I'll give you a little bit further on the I was going to say that's it on the synopsis. I'll give you a little bit further. Uh it then kind of like goes forward and she's kind of dealing with things and she has like problems in her past as well. And then she goes with some friends to a house to kind of get away and she has a rule with everyone. Like she lets them know up front, I have to be awake like you cannot be awake when I go to sleep. Like you got to go to bed and then I will go to bed basically and don't be up, you know? And if something happens with her, you got to wake her up. That's the other thing. Like don't let her sleep while other people are awake. But, obviously, that's not followed because it's a horror film and we have to move things forward. There needs to be some interest in what's going on. So, yeah. So, that's where I'll leave you with the synopsis. But, I will say that um there are some interesting things that end up coming up. Uh the opening scene is pretty effective at getting your attention and showing you some solid horror. Kind of already talked about that. The characters and dialogue feel pretty real, which points to really solid writing. And that's the thing. A lot of the times when it's these lower budget films and it's the same person who's writing and directing, they're usually either good at one or the other thing. And I actually think that this individual is good at both of these things. Like not like amazing direction, but like it's directed well and good writing. Like better than good writing in my opinion. Especially pointing to the characters are pretty interesting. The the way their relationships take shape are quite interesting and the dialogue is really good. And that's one of the things that a lot of people don't think about is that dialogue is actually really hard to write, especially when you're trying to make it feel realistic and also have like different uh unique voices for different characters. So, and well, and part of that ends up being the actors, too. Like, they can kind of put their own flavor on it uh at times. And that does point to another thing with the film is I thought the cast did a nice job with this film. Like, they really did. And especially when you come to these like lower-budget independent films, you don't expect a ton from the cast typically because, you know, they're not getting paid a lot of money. These aren't like super seasoned actors who are in the film. So, when I get performances like I got from the cast in this film, I'm very pleased with it. I think they did a nice job. And they really bring things together. So, it's it feels to me like in many aspects there was a lot of planning that went into this film. And I a lot of uh low-budget independent horror films, uh I I know there probably is a lot of planning that goes into almost all of them, but there are certain ones that I'm just like, I just feel like there wasn't a whole lot of planning put into this. Like, they had an idea, they didn't like have people look at it and do like revisions to the script and stuff like that. But, it kind of feels like that type of stuff did happen with this film, that they took that extra time and were kind of like, "Okay, let's get the script like tight. Let's make sure the story makes sense. Let's make these characters feel real. Let's get these performances down. Like, and like the practical effects, let's work on that so it looks good on camera." Those types of things. So, I appreciate that stuff. Um it is not a found footage film, but there are some moments, like certain scenes that they switch to found footage, which I think worked really well. And to a point where when I was watching it, I was like, "I honestly think that this filmmaker might want to consider doing a straight-up found footage film." Because the way that was shot, it looked very good for found footage. It had the right feel for a found footage horror film, the right amount of tension, the right amount of kind of like panic in what was going on, and things showing up during those scenes looked really good on screen. Um so I was I was pretty impressed with that aspect. And being a person who doesn't typically like found footage films, I actually dislike most of them. Um I think that should mean a lot kind of coming from me that I think this person could make a pretty effective found footage film. Again, performances are pretty good. Uh there's a pretty good reveal in the film about 45 minutes in that I did not see coming, and that's one of the things I love. There are a lot of these types of films where, you know, low-budget independent films where the story's just not there, and you're just kind of like from the get-go you're like, "Ah, I have a pretty good idea of how things are going to go." And then you end up being correct about where they're going to go, and there's just no element of surprise. With this film, the premise that was set up in the beginning, I was kind of like, "Okay, we'll see about this." Like, where are they going to take this? Because it's one of those things where like it's an idea that can just fall flat, or it's an idea that if you put a lot of thought into it and you do some really interesting stuff, it can really hook people in. Now, this was well thought out. And at about the 45-minute mark, that became very apparent to me because of something they throw in there that I was like, "Hmm, wasn't expecting that. Very pleased with it as well, so let's continue forward." Um so, there's some good planning. That's my next note is there's some good planning for the overall story, which you don't always get. Um so, big kudos to the filmmaker for actually putting a lot of time into the stor- not just the concept of the story, but fleshing out the details of the story. Cuz so many times when I'm seeing films like this, the concept is there, and the details are not. And then it just makes for an overall not great story. So, nice work on this one. There are some decent practical effects moments, which I did quite appreciate. I'm always looking for that in horror films. That's my favorite. Uh and the ending is it it's not like a great ending, but it is a satisfying ending, which at the end of the day, especially for a lower-budget film, is kind of all you can really ask for. Um so, I thought they did a nice job with that. Now, I do think that this film could have been shaved down a little bit, but overall, I think it had decent pacing, which is a good statement from me because I harp all the time on pacing issues with a lot of these films. A lot of these films, it feels like they're they're just adding padding into the film to get to that runtime. This didn't feel so much like that. It just kind of felt like the filmmaker had a little bit too much on a few scenes in there. Not a lot though, and pretty decent pacing overall. And I think it was like I think it was like an hour and 25 minutes with credits. So, that's another thing. They weren't trying to be like, "Oh, we need to make this a super long film." So, I appreciate that as well. So, overall, pretty positive experience with this film. I do think people should check it out, especially if you like these types of low-budget independent horror films. I was originally thinking about going with a three on this one overall, but I really think after talking it out that it deserves a three and a half star rating out of five. Um I was going to make a comparison to what it's sitting at on Letterboxd right now, but there aren't enough ratings on Letterboxd to get like an actual average on it. So, we'll see eventually what that ends up with. And once the movie actually comes out, or sorry, once my review comes out, I'll go ahead and add to those ratings on Letterboxd. That's what I do. Um so, yeah. I would love to hear other people's thoughts on this film. Go ahead and put it down in the descrip- description in the comments. You can't edit the description. You can't put comments there. Put something down in the comments. Let's talk about it, especially if you felt kind of differently with this film, you want to talk about spoilers, or you see something interesting in it that you wanted to talk about. I'm always down for that. But, do me a quick favor. Do all the free things to support my channel if you like this video or any video I've ever done. Thumbs up on the video helps a lot with that YouTube algorithm. Subscribing to the channel shows your support. It's very, you know, satisfying to see that your viewer base kind of grows. And then, notification bell button. If you hit when I'm putting up new videos. And just watching the videos does go a long way for me. Just putting in that time and actually watching the content. If you do want to get a little bit more involved, I do have memberships available for the channel. You can check that out, link in the description. There are three different tiers with different perks. And one of the things is on one of them, you can get access to the Discord that I have going. And we're doing monthly watch parties at this point through Discord. Before, I was doing watch parties that were tied to Shudder. And now it's not, since we're doing it through Discord, cuz we're doing it through Scener before. And you had everyone had to have like have that streaming service. That's not the case with this one. So, if you want to get involved in that, go ahead. But, if you sign up, and you're supposed to get access to the Discord and you're not, email me. You can get my email through the website. I know I've had problems with that here and there. I don't know why, but anyway, you can get it fixed that way. But, thank you so much for taking your time to watch this video. And until next time, keep it brutal.