I see what they were trying to do... but they failed. Too slow, didn't believe the story, acting was only thing god about it.
3.8
3.8
20 Reviews
ya but no
natcalgary3 January 2019
Don't bother
paul-rose7-246-6182317 May 2020
A really slow moving boring film. I was surprised that so many good actors agreed to appear in this, perhaps the script was better on paper than in production. Don't waste your time watching this unless you suffer from insomnia.
Without stories the truth is too random.
nogodnomasters5 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Stefan Delvoe (Michiel Huisman) is an actor who has it all. His wife has filed for separation. He is found dead from what the police call a suicide. His wife Katherine (Katherine Waterston) is not so sure and investigates the last few days of his life meeting friends she didn't know he had. Meanwhile, her mother is in the hospital. And there is a mystery woman.
PLOT SPOILER: The film is about how people cope with a suicide, looking for answers than it is a clever who-dun-it. Rather boring, even the club scenes.
Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No nudity.
PLOT SPOILER: The film is about how people cope with a suicide, looking for answers than it is a clever who-dun-it. Rather boring, even the club scenes.
Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No nudity.
The bath scene!!!!
Mehki_Girl1 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I found the bath scene so disturbing. I watch a lot of crime shows, so at first when he said he wanted to take a bath, I thought okay, girl, let him take a bath; if a man wants to take a bath before sex, he must be pretty stinky.
Yhen she goes in the bathroom to run the water and I'm thinking well now you're trapped in the bathroom.
Then he wants bubble bath and I'm thinking he's going to drown you in the bubble bath.
Then he wants her to get into the bubble bath and she gets into the bubble bath.
And I'm thinking, well now, you're a perfect patsy; he's just going to shove your head down.
Then he asked her to make her hair wet and she puts her head down in the water and I'm like okay he's going to drown you now.
Then he takes out some shampoo and I can't figure if he took it out of his pocket or bag that he had or it was her shampoo?
He starts washing her hair and he becomes orgasmic and has a big humping orgasm.
And then in the next scene she's got like an big afro. I mean, I was watching this thinking is this a comedy or is this supposed to be some sort of murder mystery?
Which by the way I heard two shots and I don't know that many people who are shooting themselves in the head that miss and shoot themselves twice - clue number one.
Back to the bathtub scene. I'm assuming the bathtub guy was molested by his nanny when she was washing his hair and now he has a fetish. Just that thought alone I found extremely disturbing.
You've been warned.
Yhen she goes in the bathroom to run the water and I'm thinking well now you're trapped in the bathroom.
Then he wants bubble bath and I'm thinking he's going to drown you in the bubble bath.
Then he wants her to get into the bubble bath and she gets into the bubble bath.
And I'm thinking, well now, you're a perfect patsy; he's just going to shove your head down.
Then he asked her to make her hair wet and she puts her head down in the water and I'm like okay he's going to drown you now.
Then he takes out some shampoo and I can't figure if he took it out of his pocket or bag that he had or it was her shampoo?
He starts washing her hair and he becomes orgasmic and has a big humping orgasm.
And then in the next scene she's got like an big afro. I mean, I was watching this thinking is this a comedy or is this supposed to be some sort of murder mystery?
Which by the way I heard two shots and I don't know that many people who are shooting themselves in the head that miss and shoot themselves twice - clue number one.
Back to the bathtub scene. I'm assuming the bathtub guy was molested by his nanny when she was washing his hair and now he has a fetish. Just that thought alone I found extremely disturbing.
You've been warned.
More Like Sleep-Like State
vegicat2 January 2019
Because that's pretty much where it took me. Boring "plot", unlikable characters, lots of shadowy shots for no reason, and tons of pointless conversation. Unrealistic situation and dialogue.
Doesn't help that I'm sick of seeing older male actors paired with young actresses for gratuitous sex scenes. Love me some Michael Shannon, but this movie stunk for many reasons.
Doesn't help that I'm sick of seeing older male actors paired with young actresses for gratuitous sex scenes. Love me some Michael Shannon, but this movie stunk for many reasons.
Glacial
Gordon-1124 March 2019
This film tells the story of an American photographer, whose Belgian husband kills himself with a gun. She struggles to find out why he kills himself.
The story could have been interesting, but the pace is super super slow. It moves so slowly that even potentially adrenaline filled scenes become boring. The storytelling doesn't make you want to find out what is happening, and doesn't captivate the viewers. It is a pity, because it has good production, but the story isn't told well.
The story could have been interesting, but the pace is super super slow. It moves so slowly that even potentially adrenaline filled scenes become boring. The storytelling doesn't make you want to find out what is happening, and doesn't captivate the viewers. It is a pity, because it has good production, but the story isn't told well.
Ponderous & Self-Indulgent
lavatch29 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"State Like Sleep" is a throwback to French art films of the 1960s. The first image that comes to mind is Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg emoting for the camera with long pauses and mundane dialogue invested with gravitas.
The film begins with the deep philosophical platitude "without stories, the truth is too random." There follows two hours of ponderous melodrama framed in the vague format of a detective yarn.
The main character is Katherine, playing the Jean Seberg role. Katherine is distraught with the apparent suicide of her husband, a star actor named Stefan. She has no idea why he would have killed himself and is outraged that the police want to preserve his pristine image. She then plays the detective in following clues that will lead her to truth about her mysterious, wayward husband, who may have been leading a secret life.
The Jean-Paul Belmondo character is Edward and played by the fine actor Michael Shannon. Edward is the bon-vivant American residing in the hotel room adjacent to Katherine in Brussels. They meet and, at her insistence, they have sex. Edward is the epicurean, living for the moment, and he brings comfort to Catherine as she vomits after ingesting cocaine and heroin. He is earnest in proclaiming that he wants to be her friend while apparently forgetting that he is committing adultery.
This slow burner of a film advances the plot tediously. In the end, do we really care about the saga of Stefan? Do we care about Katherine's predicament? Do we care about an odd assortment of secondary characters in a hedonistic Brussels pleasure palace called the Vingt Fleurs?
At times the film nearly lapses into comedy as in the hospital scene when Katherine is arguing with her shrewish mother-in-law while her own mother lies in a coma. The machine starts bleeping, and the mother is flatlining. Yet, the argument continues between Katherine and the biddie! At this point, the film might be subtitled "The Taming of the Shrew"!
The mystery of Stefan Delvoe turns into the borefest of Stefan Delvoe. Structurally, the film is a mess with continuing flashbacks. As a tip for viewers, keep in mind that if Katherine has long hair (wearing the wig), that is a flashback. If she has short hair (Jean Seberg-style), that is in the present. After that bit of advice, good luck in trying to make sense of this boring art film. But, be on the lookout for the most bizarre scene of all: a kinky scene involving a shampoo in a Brussels bathtub that will leave every viewer slack-jawed in contemplating how such a sequence could be incorporated into the final film cut.
The film begins with the deep philosophical platitude "without stories, the truth is too random." There follows two hours of ponderous melodrama framed in the vague format of a detective yarn.
The main character is Katherine, playing the Jean Seberg role. Katherine is distraught with the apparent suicide of her husband, a star actor named Stefan. She has no idea why he would have killed himself and is outraged that the police want to preserve his pristine image. She then plays the detective in following clues that will lead her to truth about her mysterious, wayward husband, who may have been leading a secret life.
The Jean-Paul Belmondo character is Edward and played by the fine actor Michael Shannon. Edward is the bon-vivant American residing in the hotel room adjacent to Katherine in Brussels. They meet and, at her insistence, they have sex. Edward is the epicurean, living for the moment, and he brings comfort to Catherine as she vomits after ingesting cocaine and heroin. He is earnest in proclaiming that he wants to be her friend while apparently forgetting that he is committing adultery.
This slow burner of a film advances the plot tediously. In the end, do we really care about the saga of Stefan? Do we care about Katherine's predicament? Do we care about an odd assortment of secondary characters in a hedonistic Brussels pleasure palace called the Vingt Fleurs?
At times the film nearly lapses into comedy as in the hospital scene when Katherine is arguing with her shrewish mother-in-law while her own mother lies in a coma. The machine starts bleeping, and the mother is flatlining. Yet, the argument continues between Katherine and the biddie! At this point, the film might be subtitled "The Taming of the Shrew"!
The mystery of Stefan Delvoe turns into the borefest of Stefan Delvoe. Structurally, the film is a mess with continuing flashbacks. As a tip for viewers, keep in mind that if Katherine has long hair (wearing the wig), that is a flashback. If she has short hair (Jean Seberg-style), that is in the present. After that bit of advice, good luck in trying to make sense of this boring art film. But, be on the lookout for the most bizarre scene of all: a kinky scene involving a shampoo in a Brussels bathtub that will leave every viewer slack-jawed in contemplating how such a sequence could be incorporated into the final film cut.
what happened to hubby ?
ksf-22 July 2021
After her celebrity husband may have committed suicide, a woman tries to figure out what was going on in the dead man's life just before he died. Her mother shows up to help. And the dead husband's mother shows up. And no-one gets along. And then nothing happens for 15 minutes. .. so it appears we keep flashing back into the days just before it all ended for hubby. It gets confusing ... we're not always sure where we are. In the past, or back in the present ? Maybe that's what the writer wants? Who knows. This is rated quite low on imdb, and I can see why so many are confused by it. But to a certain extent, you have to just go with the story, as bare as it is. Written and directed by Meredith Danluck.
Watchable, but disappointing
rsofianos5 January 2019
Solid if unmemorable
egbrockstar4 January 2019
Katherine Waterston is as lovely as ever, Michael Shannon is very nice in a role that's considerably softer than his usual parts, and the direction is slick and competent. However the whole thing is mostly forgettable and the movie just sort of ends without a satisfying resolution.
A yawnfest and feels like a boring dream.
cruise0126 March 2019
State Like Sleep (2 out of 5 stars).
State Like Sleep literally feels like you are trying to remember a dream from a nap which nothing in it makes sense and nothing really exciting about it. Well that is how this film feels when the main character is going through a dream and she is trying to connect the missing pieces to solve a murder. There is nothing really interesting about the film. The plot is boring. The characters are dull. The acting is tedious. And the twist is nothing special about it.
The plot follows Katherine (Katherine Waterston) who is trying to solve her husband's Stefan (Michiel Huisman) murder. She finds a matchbox that connects to a gentleman's club owned by Emile (Luke Evans). And she goes on a search for who murdered her husband.
The plot feels like one long boring dream. The film flashes back and forth with the present and past to show how Katherine and Stefan troubling marriage. Stefan being the irresponsible and he is keeping secrets from her and his family. Emile played by Luke Evans has some connections with Stefan's character that does not clearly tie up. The one character that feels out of place and does not serve a purpose to the story at all is Edward (Michael Shannon) a married guy who sleeps around when he is on a business trip. Edward comes across Katherine to give her a bit of advice but nothing more to add to the story.
Katherine Waterston is okay playing Katherine. Michiel Huisman, Luke Evans, and Michael Shannon were decent but there characters are underdeveloped with the film. And barely has any progression to the story.
Overall, State Like Sleep is a bad film. The plot is boring. The twists are forgettable. The acting is dull and the direction does not add up but gives you an empty thriller drama film.
State Like Sleep literally feels like you are trying to remember a dream from a nap which nothing in it makes sense and nothing really exciting about it. Well that is how this film feels when the main character is going through a dream and she is trying to connect the missing pieces to solve a murder. There is nothing really interesting about the film. The plot is boring. The characters are dull. The acting is tedious. And the twist is nothing special about it.
The plot follows Katherine (Katherine Waterston) who is trying to solve her husband's Stefan (Michiel Huisman) murder. She finds a matchbox that connects to a gentleman's club owned by Emile (Luke Evans). And she goes on a search for who murdered her husband.
The plot feels like one long boring dream. The film flashes back and forth with the present and past to show how Katherine and Stefan troubling marriage. Stefan being the irresponsible and he is keeping secrets from her and his family. Emile played by Luke Evans has some connections with Stefan's character that does not clearly tie up. The one character that feels out of place and does not serve a purpose to the story at all is Edward (Michael Shannon) a married guy who sleeps around when he is on a business trip. Edward comes across Katherine to give her a bit of advice but nothing more to add to the story.
Katherine Waterston is okay playing Katherine. Michiel Huisman, Luke Evans, and Michael Shannon were decent but there characters are underdeveloped with the film. And barely has any progression to the story.
Overall, State Like Sleep is a bad film. The plot is boring. The twists are forgettable. The acting is dull and the direction does not add up but gives you an empty thriller drama film.
Cute, funny, subtle mood piece
SeanBatemanJr7 January 2019
Like a lot of films in which Katherine Waterston is cast as a lead (Queen of Earth and Babysitters being prime examples), this one might meet challenges because of balancing too many genres (thriller, comedy, drama) and tones and being too subtle for a lot of people to appreciate it. However I must say the audiovisual style, casting, acting are great and these same subtlety and multi-layered-ness made this a very enjoyable and rewarding film to which I definitely will return multiple times.
Leaves you wanting more....
Dar Star1 October 2023
First off, the IMDB rating is too low. This film is better than the current 4.4 rating. I personally gave it a 6 because it is certainly not a bad film. It does not have a resolution that is satisfactory however and that is the worst part of it.
The film is actually visually appealing and the cast is talented and handles their roles well. Michael Shannon rarely goes wrong and he's good in this film if underutilized. Katharine Waterson is often very good, but I'm not sure she was the best fit for this film.
The plot is admittedly too complex in that it is searching for something the audience can hold onto but never does accomplish that, but the movie is NOT boring despite what some reviewers claim. Slow moving? Sure. But not boring.
The film is actually visually appealing and the cast is talented and handles their roles well. Michael Shannon rarely goes wrong and he's good in this film if underutilized. Katharine Waterson is often very good, but I'm not sure she was the best fit for this film.
The plot is admittedly too complex in that it is searching for something the audience can hold onto but never does accomplish that, but the movie is NOT boring despite what some reviewers claim. Slow moving? Sure. But not boring.
Unbearable to watch and the couple is impossible to believe
nacemosmuertos4 January 2019
I couldn´t finish it, it is unbearable.
And, I´m sorry, but movies now try to make believable that a gourgeus man will fall in love with a unatractive woman, ¡and dull! No, I´m sorry but that does not happen in real life
utterly unfinished, actors walking though script, laughable narrrative
VoyagerMN19862 January 2019
Wow, this is a true clunker. One of the most pretentious films I have seen and I have seen my share. One has to wonder what is going on with Michael Shannon. Does he literally take any paycheck? Tribeca was a sad affair this year, a shadow of its former self, and this was the worst offering there.
Sleep like state - YES YAWN!
susi-233-68738813 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
So boring, so predictable...the flashbacks were ridiculous and too many. Nobody felt real even the veritable genius of Mary Kay Place was dumbed down into a ubiquitous old lady role. Gratuitous sex; boring violence; dull dialogue.
Watch it for Katherine Waterston
bernardoarquivo2 January 2019
Girl whose husband committed suicide is forced to return to the country where she lived with him, in order to solve with her mother-in-law matters pertaining to an apartment. The girl's mother is there with her; she has a stroke and is hospitalized, so the girl has to stay there longer than she imagined. She decides to investigate her husband's suicide and ends uncovering a series of facts that clearly show that the previous police investigation was not exactly competent.
We've seen this movie a thousand times and I probably would've stopped it after about half an hour if it weren't for the presence of adorable Katherine Waterston in every single scene. And that is a complete pleasure. She's gorgeous, sweet and a fine actress. She's worth watching this.
We've seen this movie a thousand times and I probably would've stopped it after about half an hour if it weren't for the presence of adorable Katherine Waterston in every single scene. And that is a complete pleasure. She's gorgeous, sweet and a fine actress. She's worth watching this.
Good Actually
Craftsman180022 May 2023
Not nearly as bad as the reviews lead me to believe. I can only guess it was marketed to the wrong crowd. Yes, it was slow compared to Hollywood action films, but not when compared to European cinema. I enjoyed it enough to see again perhaps some time. Although the plot is peppered with flashbacks it's never confusing due to a certain detail that also applied to a bit of comic relief that apparently everyone but me missed. No spoilers...lol. I don't think it was a great film, so could only give it a 6.0, but the current rating on IMDB is 4.4 which is ridiculously low given the good qualities of this film overall. Be well rested when watching and ready to look and listen!
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