The Sleepwalker

Director Mona Fastvold's bold but flawed debut feature is set in a small Massachusetts town where Kaia (played by Norwegian actress Gitte Vitte) is living in simplistic harmony with her laconic, bearded brute of a boyfriend—who is renovating the house passed down from Kaia's recently deceased father. Trouble arrives when Kaia's disturbed (and pregnant) younger sister Christine shows up one night in a needy, agitated state. From the get-go, it is clear that Christine's barely controlled mania (including latent nymphomania) will upend her sister's carefully contrived rustic lifestyle with her lunkhead partner. From here, the film visually takes on an almost modern-day horror quality, especially after Christine's arrogant boyfriend arrives on the scene to stir up even more psychological unrest. As Christine's words and actions become increasingly disturbing (including relapses of the sleepwalking disorder she had as a child), the cinematography favors cold, sparse lighting, bringing a certain oppressive rawness to the proceedings. Unfortunately, The Sleepwalker ultimately lacks thematic purpose and dramatic payoff: viewers are perfectly set up here for a climax of some sort, but the film frustratingly fades into incoherence. Optional. (M. Sandlin)