Nightmare (2024), a psychological horror film delves into the fine line between dreams and reality. Coupled with sleep paralysis and the horrors concealed in people’s subconscious, the movie explores the intertwining concept of supernaturally-infused horrors and the destruction of humanity. The film is told using a fusion of supernatural horror, psychological thrillers, and nightmare logic which has long since inspired A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Babadook (2014), and The Haunting of Hill House (2018).

Blending frightening pieces together, Nightmare possesses a nuanced story, along with unsettling visuals and otherwordly aura that leaves audiences pondering if what they witnessed in fact occured. Leaving audiences in a conundrum, Nightmare forces them to question whether what they truly witnessed was real, or to ask if they are still stuck within the confines of a dream.

Plot Overview

Starting off, when insomniac and esquiss artist, Hannah Vance (played by [Lead Actress]) relocates along with her boyfriend to a new apartment, she starts perceiving horrifying nightmares. Each night intensifies significantly more than the last, becoming overly graphic, so much so that they blur the line between real life and dreams. Subsequently, she realizes, she is paralyzed in her bed each night, while a silhouette draws nearer and nearer to her, with her becoming incapable of screaming.

Initially, Hannah believes that these incidents where she wakes up lucidly tied to her bed are consequences of a sleep study gone awry. That aside, the ever-growing nightmare is getting more intense. Symbols, whispers, and horrific memories from her past are somehow making its way into her artwork.

In hopes of getting clarity, Hannah researched the apartment’s background and came across a word more ominous than the rest: No, she is not dreaming. The truth lies in dreams, and she’s dangerously teetering in between them. Now something – an ancient entity constantly starving for energy is breaking down boundaries between fantasies and reality for something ominous – a cycle she’s actually trapped in. The cruel part is, she can’t escape from it, hence she wonders, will she ever wake up?

The Horror of Sleep Paralysis

Instead of following classic formulas of supernatural horror, Nightmare showcases the shuddering phenomenon of sleep paralysis. This is the state between sleep and wakefulness in which the individual is fully aware, yet cannot move or speak, often accompanied by frightening hallucinations. Sleep paralysis sufferers generally report shadowy images, whispers, and a terrifying sense of helplessness.

The film takes these real-life events and amplifies them into a supernatural nightmare. The horror is that the entity that is torturing Hannah is not in her mind, it is something that is very much alive, waiting for her to never wake.