‘Somnium’ Turns Sleep Into a Waking Terror
- Horror News
Oliver Mitchell- 0
- 4 minutes read
Racheal Cain’s debut feature Somnium will be released on demand in the UK and Ireland from 8 September, following a limited US theatrical rollout this summer. The sci-fi horror film, which centres on a mysterious sleep clinic that turns dreams into terrifying reality, stars Chloë Levine, Will Peltz and Stranger Things breakout Grace Van Dien.
The story follows Gemma, a small-town aspiring actress who moves to Los Angeles in the aftermath of a break-up. Trying to navigate the brutal landscape of Hollywood auditions, she accepts a night shift job at Somnium, an experimental sleep research centre promising transformative rest through untested technology. But what begins as a temporary solution quickly becomes something far more dangerous. Gemma begins to lose her grip on reality as hallucinations, paranoia and dreamlike horrors take hold, suggesting that the clinic’s procedures may be warping more than just her sleep patterns.
Filmed over several years and brought to life through a successful crowdfunding campaign, Somnium is the product of a long development process. Flashback scenes were shot in Georgia as early as 2018, while the rest of the film was completed in Los Angeles across 2021 and 2022. Cain’s feature-length debut has drawn comparisons to Anthony Scott Burns’ Come True, another film steeped in dream-state dread and institutional unease.
Chloë Levine, best known for her roles in The OA and The Sacrifice Game, leads the cast with a performance described by Lightbulb Film Distribution as both grounded and unsettling. Will Peltz (Unfriended), Grace Van Dien, Peter Vack and Johnathon Schaech round out the cast, with Cain focusing heavily on mood, ambiguity and psychological pressure.
The UK and Ireland release comes via Lightbulb, while US distribution is being handled by Yellow Veil Pictures. Somnium will first appear in select US cinemas from 29 August in Los Angeles and 6 September in New York City before landing on digital platforms.
Cain, reflecting on the decade-long journey to bring the film to screen, described its eventual release as a hard-won milestone. Watch the trailer below to get a glimpse into what you can expect to see in a few weeks time.
Somnium trailer
