"Even when you cannot sleep, your nightmares catch up on you…"

Ed has been a zombie for the last few days. He fights to fall asleep but does not succeed. His wife, that he suspects has cheated on him, has not come back from work. At first, he advises the authorities but is informed that most of the disappearances are shown to be unfounded within 48 hours.

He does not sleep during the next night and his wife still hasn’t come back home. Devastated, he doesn’t go to work and doesn’t bother calling his superiors. He declares his wife missing to the police, who come and visit his home but, sadly, do not find any clues.

Hours pass and Ed still can’t fall asleep. One of his students becomes more important in his life. She constantly calls and visits him; she wants more than friendship.

Then, the car belonging to Ed’s wife is found near the home of the man Ed despises, who also happens to be the man with which he suspects his wife cheated on him. Also, Ed does not help his case by acting in a weird manner, which causes the police to suspect him.

Chasing Sleep is first and foremost a strange movie. The camera work is extraordinary and raises the empathy feeling that we can have with a similar situation. It is a story even more interesting for it features a man and his home. A few other elements join in, but it is hard to get lost.

Sadly, it is another of those movies who lead nowhere and is interesting only because we want to get to the bottom of things. It is a film to appreciate more for its artistic style than for its story. Jeff Daniels’ performance is brilliant but it is difficult to imagine that he invested himself in such a low quality movie.