Parasomnia (2025): Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2025

What if your sleep demon was real?

Writer-director James Ross II, in his feature film debut, poses that very question. The film opens with a flashback from the POV of Riley's friend, David, who was in the same foster home when their foster mother killed one of the other children while Riley slept. The film picks up ten years later when the friends come together to celebrate Riley's birthday. Built on the foundation of good ideas, Parasomnia ultimately gets in its own way. The story feels familiar yet overcomplicated, and the narrative ends up bogged down by its own ambition. 

We’re introduced to Riley (Jasmine Mathews), her boyfriend Cam (RJ Brown), and a now-grown up David (Stephen Barrington), and right away it’s clear Riley doesn’t just have sleep rules but she lives by them. Her most important one? Everyone else has to fall asleep before she does. It’s a great setup, the kind of detail that hints at deeper trauma and mystery, but Ross never lets us sit in that tension long enough.

David, understandably still haunted by what happened the last time Riley slept on her birthday, feels like the only one with a sense of urgency. When the weirdness kicks in, he doesn't waste time and is out of the house fast — and honestly, same. But the problem is that by the time he’s gone, so is most of the emotional anchor of this film. We’re left following Riley through a string of eerie moments that should be unsettling but instead feel disconnected because we never get a sense of who she is beyond her fear of sleep.

There's a twist (or two) along the way and Riley is left to deal with the truth behind her dreams and the demon that haunts them. Mathews, Brown and Barrington deliver serviceable performances, but it's Cam's mom, played by Sally Stewart, who stands out here. She's haunting and shrouded in mystery, until she's not which cuts the building tension. The ending stumbles a bit more and we're left with a broken Riley and more questions and a finale that’s more frustrating than frightening.

Parasomnia has all the pieces for a gripping horror movie. Yet, even with a creepy premise, a demon with rules, and the promise of nightmare-fueled suspense, it never fully comes together. Ross clearly wants to do something original, yet the story gets bogged down in convoluted twists and underdeveloped characters. The tension is there in bursts, but without a stronger connection to Riley or the people around her, the scares don’t land the way they should. It’s an ambitious debut with flashes of promise, but in the end, it’s more frustrating than it is haunting.

This film was reviewed during Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2025.