The Sleep Experiment – Review
81 Minutes, Not Rated
Written and Directed by John Farrelly
Synopsis:
Two detectives begin an investigation on the ethics involved in the top-secret research facility, Porton Down. One experiment, in particular, stands out to them as the most horrific, The Sleep Experiment, a scientific experiment that took place during the Cold War.
The experiment consisted of five prisoners, deemed Enemies of the State, being locked in a sealed gas chamber. An airborne stimulant was continually administered to keep the subjects awake for 30 consecutive days. The prisoners were falsely promised that they would be set free from the prison if they completed the experiment.
Based on the famous (some might say infamous… or apocryphal) Russian experiment designed to test a gas which would keep soldiers awake so they could keep fighting without rest. The need was to know how the body would respond without sleep.
Supposedly.
Here, we have a police invesitgation into a civilian case involving such a test, an investigation which turns into a cat-and-mouse game between the investigators and a scientist associated with the test.
Shades of pre-V for Vendetta life in Britain mix with the bones of the Russian story to create an effective base of the movie.
The five test subjects are prisoners of varying background, and we see not only the physical effects, but more importantly (and clearly more noteworthy) are the psychological effects.
Let’s just say that things don’t go as planned…or do they?
A solid premise, simply shot and effectively presented, but one which provides no real suprises to an attentive (and perhaps intuitive) audience.
But The Sleep Experiement is not without its appeal, as the idea of human containment, coupled with provocation (either real or imagined), is always an intriguing watch. This one is definitely well-done for a somewhat overworked premise, though not one so overworked as the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Ugh.
Check out The Sleep Experiment, which is available to stream now and stars Barry Jon Kinsells, Gwynne McElveen, Tom Kerrisk, Anthony Murphy, Sam McGovern, Rob Earley, Steven Jess, Will Murphy, and Brian Moore.
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