Best of Netflix: The Nightmare

(imdb.com)

Over the past couple years, documentaries have seen somewhat of a resurgence. From Blackfish to Beware the Slenderman, the diverse possibilities of documentary films have implanted new ideas, opinions and thoughts into our minds. Anything can become a documentary and because of that, it was only a matter of time before audiences got a look at something as superstitious as sleep paralysis. For thousands, sleep paralysis is an ongoing issue that has varied explanations and reasons. Some key features of the disorder include an inability to move and a feeling somewhere between consciousness and sleep.  Sounds pretty bad right? Well, 2015's The Nightmare proves just how scary these moments can be.

Featuring some pretty startling reenacted and dramatized scenes, The Nightmare is the rare, true documentary that is simultaneously able to scare its audiences. From deep red rooms to shadowy figures over bed, the storytelling of this movie could easily translate to a fictional horror movie, and yet, the real life accounts of eight sufferers seem even more terrifying. First premiering at Sundance, The Nightmare is directed by Rodney Ascher (Room 237), a gifted director with a pension for all things scary.

The Nightmare works best when it stays in reality. The cut away dramatizations are at their scariest when they're less obtrusive to the story - think about all of those haunting shows on cable that seem to think a poorly CGI'd face is scarier than a subtly distinctive shadow. The Nightmare definitely knows this distinction and consistently aims for the more grounded scares, even if at times they go over the top. It definitely works for the majority of the movie and viewers can expect to be sufficiently fearful at the omnipresent "Shadow Man" who may eventually creep into their bed.

The Nightmare does have a share of flaws. For instance, as with any documentary - especially those of the near-supernatural kind, there is the opportunity and tendency to take advantage of and over-exaggerate fantastical elements. Then, also due in part to the movie's horror elements,  some of the cast's recounting of sleep paralysis seems more grounded in reality as opposed to some of the more eccentric ones. The Nightmare also offers a few less than stellar visuals (but also makes up for those with nightmarish scenes that are far more subtle).

The Nightmare is a good documentary. It's easy to follow along and while sometimes disproportionately trades nonfiction for fiction, it ultimately remains in a place of realism. It's a film that has a story to tell and doesn't necessarily care if you believe it, instead its goal is more sinister: The Nightmare wants you to believe that sleep paralysis is far more common and in fact, likely to happen to you. That should be enough to keep you up at night, it certainly was for me.