While We Sleep (2021) User Reviews

From disappointment to disbelief.....

[snicknib · 3/10 · 17 October 2021]

This could have been a good film. Some nicely creepy moments (despite the more than slightly done-to-death plotline), and the kid actor plays her part well.

Unfortunately, she's in the minority; rarely have I seen such atrocious acting. From the pouting, barely intelligible female lead to the incongruously cockney priest, things go rapidly on a downward slope from early on, taking the whole thing from promisingly spooky into the realms of the ridiculous, not to mention predictable.

If it had been slightly cringier it could almost have been a spoof, but sadly it stops short of that point, resulting in a flat, boring waste of time. Sorry.

Not worth the time

[mmundoiii · 3/10 · 4 October 2021]

What can I say? Boring, unoriginal and crappy story. Even in mediocre horror flicks there should be an attempt at some character development but not in this movie. One should go into this as if getting ready to watch a SYFY Channel orginal movie. Your take will be "It's not that good, I've seen it done before, and why didn't I watch something else."

They tried, I think they really tried!

[ncspeeddiva · 3/10 · 10 March 2022]

First, don't confuse your audience by basing your film in Kiev yet beginning it like a completely American film then tossing in complete conversations in Russian with no subtitles. The central family all speak English, no accents, live in a million dollar house, he's an artist and we don't know what she does. Yet she "spent time" there as a kid, moved there later, fluent AF. This whole film had the makings of a pretty good horror film, they forgot the horror. Sleep Doc wasn't researched, they could have done better and her character didn't really need a backstory. Terrible intro of the priest, wayyy too "oh I saw your drawing". Then he beats her up at the door?? Terrible impersonation of Paul Bellamy I might add. Maybe, if they try again, they can find Demon Voice #2.

Watered Down Wanna Be Version of the Exorcist

[sales-30878 · 1/10 · 1 October 2021]

If you're having trouble sleeping, this is the movie to watch. Nothing even remotely scary happens and you couldn't care less about the characters. The demon was as lame as you get. Super Naturals were more scary.

Waste of time

[declanfoyle · 1/10 · 1 October 2021]

Don't watch it, storyline is awful and acting and production is atrocious.

Total waste of time

[djsams-96261 · 1/10 · 14 May 2022]

I'd rather be possessed by the devil then watch this movie again. Acting bad. Terrible dialogue. Boring. Focused on Covergirl walking shots too much. Minutes go buy without a point. Nothing is explained. Ending was so bad our jaws dropped. Funny to make fun of but easily worst movie ever made lol.

Man I Wish We Could Reply To Reviews On Here

[soulcrisis28 · 1/10 · 16 March 2022]

Wow...@thorr-3. Grow up... When you "were growing up in Belimia?" First off, that's an eating disorder, not a place. Second, not cool joking about eating disorders.

Ok about this actual movie. It has/had some potential, sadly though I can't remember the last time I watched a movie with such gaping, glaring plot holes in it. I mean these are really bad and at the end of the movie you just have an absurd amount of questions because of these plot holes.

So, terrible writing is the first big strike. So, yeah, towards the end of the movie, yep the end of it, you find out the "dad" isn't the real dad of the girl being possessed, it's some dude named Alexander. Who's Alexander you ask? Great question, let me know when you find out the answer cause I sure as heck don't know and the movie doesn't tell you! Yet this guy plays a HUGE intricate part in the storyline! Not only is he the girls real dad, he's dead, and he apparently battled this demon and destroyed his body according to the demon, and the demon is going after the girl as vengeance against Alexander! Yep! The dead guy who we know nothing about and learn nothing about but his name when it's bomb dropped on us TOWARDS THE END OF THE MOVIE!

Next we have this priest who you get a quick background but he's in the forefront image of in the beginning of the movie and you don't even realize the two points connect until that's right, towards the end of the movie again! Yeah he just pops in like Superman to save the day. You learn nothing about him but he sure as hell knows all about Alexander and who he is. Does he share any of that info with us? Nope. Thanks Father... Yeah and he just dies, apparently it was the only way to vex the demon entirely. Yep, in fact he's the only person to die in the whole movie! A guy that just pops in towards the end that we learn nothing about and have zero time to make any kind of connection to so yeah his death is just blah.

Next issue, movie takes place in the Ukraine apparently and while the majority of it is in English, I know right? Kinda weird, there are multiple parts where they just bust out talking Ukrainian and do we get any of it translated? NOPE! Just get to sit there wondering what the heck they just said to watch other. Oh and apparently the mom is Ukrainian ancestry, dad is 100% American and everyone is Ukrainian and speaks with a heavy heavy accent. Oh and the kid is American born but they moved to Ukraine cause it's such a step up apparently for the family.

Last, the actors did well, the movie was shot well and looks good, not cheap or anything like that, but that's nowhere near enough to even salvage this movie with those horrible plot holes and just terrible lazy writing. This movie is just an all around stinker and can definitely and deservingly be missed.

Just don't

[elissamoreland · 1/10 · 14 March 2022]

Unbelievably lame, stupid waste of my time, thankfully it was free. Mostly in English, some parts are in Ukraine ( language they speak I have no idea) who knows if those parts were important to hear or not ???

Not in English

[dianereneew · 1/10 · 14 April 2022]

Movie started out well enough - good production value, interesting story. Was enjoying until about 10 minutes in when there was an entire scene where the actors were all speaking Ukrainian, with no English subtitles. Since I don't speak Ukrainian I had to stop watching. Very disappointing.

Just skip this one...

[paul_haakonsen · 1/10 · 16 February 2022]

Right, well, "While We Sleep" I slept too. Man, talk about a swing and a miss of a movie.

Sure, I will admit that I was initially suckered into watching the 2021 horror movie "While We Sleep" on the account that it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen. And yeah, the movie's cover wasn't all that bad; a bit cheesy, but not overly bad.

I hadn't even heard about "While We Sleep" prior to sitting down and watching it. So I wasn't sure what to expect from writers Brian Gross and Rich Ronat. But I certainly was expecting a horror movie. But that is not what director Andrzej Sekula delivered. Well, unless you consider an unfathomably dull and slow paced movie to be horror.

The storyline written by Brian Gross and Rich Ronat was just insanely boring and uneventful. There was literally and virtually nothing of any interest happening throughout the course of the movie, so the run time of 92 minutes was quite a struggle to sit through. And I have to be honest, I drifted off to sleep twice throughout the ordeal that is known as "While We Sleep".

I wasn't familiar with the cast in the movie, and that is usually something I enjoy in movies. But the actors and actresses in "While We Sleep" had a snowballs chance in Hell of delivering anything worthwhile, as they had a non-existing script to work with, rigid dialogue and characters with the appeal of stepping on rusted nails.

"While We Sleep" was a swing and a miss of a horror movie. And if you, like me, do enjoy horror movies, then do yourself a mighty favor and stay well clear of this stinker. It simply isn't worth the time, money or effort.

My rating of "While We Sleep" lands on a one out of ten stars. This is definitely one of the worst and most boring horror movies I have had the misfortune of suffering through.

Fun watch

[masterbrian4 · 8/10 · 2 October 2021]

Enjoyed it. Some good scares, interesting effects, and a classic story. Yes, it's been done before but that's because it's fun to watch :-)

Slow moving, mostly boring, ending gets better

[ryanehli · 3/10 · 10 October 2021]

Only the last 30 minutes is slightly scary. The majority of the first hour is mostly boring, has a weak plot & wastes lots of time getting to the good parts.

Confused

[cnthomas-64468 · 5/10 · 28 February 2022]

This movie is extremely unbelievable from a western perspective. People from the hospital don't just come stay at your house, priests don't attack you than wait till morning and tell you why they're there, nor does explain how he came across her, but my biggest confusion which I'm hoping someone can explain to me is how did her electric fish turn real and us her daughter really back alive? And the lady seems more intrigued with the fish than the daughter that's suddenly there after being dead for years!!!!

Ignorance is bliss

[bajaharley · 1/10 · 11 April 2022]

Another ignorant movie that has many scenes which are spoken in a foreign language, obviously important information to the movie but all they put for a subtitle is, "speaking foreign language". So you go through half the movie not knowing what is going on, unless you speak every language out there that is. Morons!

A Mixed Storyline And Direction

[javey-82474 · 5/10 · 2 October 2021]

I wasn't sure how good this film was going to be.

To be honest it started off quite good, particularly with the birthday cake incident. Then there was the changes in Cora. But then the pace began to slow. Also the incident with the sleep professional who was monitoring Cora during the night did not make sense to the point that she was supposed to be awake but when the key incident happened with the swimming pool she fell asleep. The big issue with this is that you never saw her sleeping during the day, so how was she supposed to stay awake all night aswell.

Only by about three quarters through the film as it began to metamorph itself into something like a low budget exorcist film did the pace quicken.

I agree with others to the fact that the acting at times was abysmal as well as the direction of the film. For me the ending seemed a little rushed and needed a little more time. On a good note I would say the special effects were decent enough.

On the whole I would say it was ok to watch but nothing to write home about.

BORING

[jeromebasque · 2/10 · 2 October 2021]

Could barely understand the one main character. Was she drunk the whole time? She talked in some kind of weird slurred accent. As for the rest. BORING. And for God's sake, please get the little girl's teeth fixed.

Could have been but wasn't great.

[2Pass_Time · 3/10 · 9 August 2022]

So much sloppy staging, gee kid's in the hospital, you see her heart rate flatline...but gosh, no leeds r attached to her chest? Bad acting, boilerplate situations...yawn.

really fun movie

[ikeyscott · 3 October 2021]

One thing I would recommend if you haven't seen the movie yet is to not watch the trailer. I feel like it gave away a little bit too much and you will enjoy it more if you just go in and watch it.

It is a interesting idea of a movie but still makes it feel like a classic horror movie that you want it to be. The acting is overall good and always keeps a very unsettling vibe. You always feel like there is something a little bit off even in the beginning when it is just normal life. You can tell that there is something that is a bit off.

Another thing that I loved was the directing style especially in the beginning. It is something different that is not something that you are used to so it allows it to go along with the vibe of the movie that something is a little off without taking anything away from the movie.

But I think at the end it becomes a little cheesy with the voice that the demon has and it doesn't make it seem real enough to scare as much as it could. I thought the creepiest parts of the ending were just when the kid was yelling for help because it seemed more human and relatable.

But, I felt the ending was still very strong and it wasn't like your typical the exorcism saves the day and its all okay and it adds more to the and creates more urgency. I liked how it wasn't your typical ending and it actually had some new things and added more depth to the story.

OH MY GOODNESS

[debra-04089 · 4/10 · 8 January 2023]

Horror movies are one of top favorite genres but this one was pretty ridiculous. I was disturbed a couple of times like when the girl contorts into a U during her demon possession. But it was mostly silly. And how about at the end when the petite woman doctor is digging a grave (or whatever it was she was digging up) and in about 20 minutes or so it's 6' deep. A little hilarious. And what about the "dad" never being told the daughter wasn't his after all. How'd they just stick that issue in there and not resolve it? I thought for sure the demon would tell dad! What happened there? Cliff hanger. Lol.

I would really like to give this a higher rating

[ibmibm · 1/10 · 18 September 2022]

Sadly, most of the other reviews described this perfectly. It reminded me of a bad imitation of "The Exorcist." It's like reaching for a Godiva chocolate only to discover its sugar-free carob. It had a couple (as in two) places that made me jump a little. The upside down spider-walk always gets me, and this had a scene similar. Close-but-not-quite-there.

There were a couple of very definite 10-star scenes: seeing Derek (Brian Gross) shirtless and a couple with him wearing only boxers. Hubba-hubba! Definitely pause-button worthy.

The rest of the movie was...mmmm...not horrible, per se, but I wouldn't wake up pining to watch it again.

Sorry, Bri...

Great horror

[gkaym-24835 · 10/10 · 2 October 2021]

Great story line and acting. Loved watching this as part of October horror month. Highly recommended.

You get what you pay for

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 1 November 2022]

No pun intended - the movie has a low budget. And any movie that has an exorcism scene in it ... well it is like trying to recreate the werewolf transformation scene - although that has been done to a degree and quite successful. Still when you think Exorcism, there is only one movie that should come to mind.

Having said that, there is more to the movie than just a (small?) comparison to a classic horror movie. On the other hand, you may also just feel it is not worth your time, which I would also understand. But that does not take away anything from the effort and the at least decent story - not to mention that it does look good. Acting is also ok/decent ... and it has some interesting shockers and good effects ... so maybe you can give it a try (and watch the trailer to be certain beforehand)

Reminds me of Childhood

[jcsindelar · 10/10 · 20 October 2021]

When I was a little boy growing up in Bulgaria, I remember the time my fridge caught fire and I starved. Very nostalgic and spooky movie. I can't wait to show this to my kids so they can see what my life was like as a young man.

Not unique but decent

[Mosterra · 10/10 · 12 October 2021]

If you're looking for something that has never been done before you'd better pass this title but if you are looking for a spooky story acceptable for audience of different age, then why not? This is not a multi-million blockbuster and there no sense to treat it as such. A mainstream movie with a classic plot. If you don't judge it by your high expectations but by what it really is supposed to be, you'll find it pretty fine.

Very Enjoyable, Good Movie!

[ericwright-46692 · 10/10 · 21 February 2022]

Loved it! I couldn't understand the foreign language parts because closed caption fail to translate certain scenes, but I got the overall gist of it except for the very last scene. Can anyone tell me what was the very last conversation of the very last scene? Seems to have been in Ukrainian or Russian.