The fear of having your home broken into, the invasive nature of the crime, is surely one of the greatest for anyone. In The Insomniac this is explored in depth as one man’s idyllic world is sent into a dark and destructive spiral following a break in. John Figg (Eddy Salazar) has only one black cloud in his otherwise sun-laden world. At work he has recently been promoted and he is about to propose to his beautiful girlfriend Martha (Clare Grant) but behind this façade of successful normality lies the suppressed emotional strain of his father’s recent passing.
Not long after moving into the suburban home he inherited from his loss John returns home from work to discover the door open and the house ransacked. To make things worse his dog is missing and his father’s ashes have been spread across the living room floor. After the police show little more than a passing interest in the case John decides to do some investigating himself. He begins staying up through the night and slowly his obsession gives way to insomnia which in turn leads to paranoia and suspicion of everyone around him. As he becomes increasingly out of control he accuses his firm’s top client Jairo Torres (Danny Trejo) of involvement, alienates both Martha and best friend Andrew (Spencer Berger) and even assaults the teenage son of his neighbours. In a now fractured life becoming more and more intense will John ever discover the truth?
The Insomniac is a film that has almost all of the qualities needed to be a fantastic psychological thriller but is missing possibly the most important. The performances are very strong with Salazar excelling as the troubled John and his mental unravelling makes for uncomfortable viewing on more than one occasion. The supporting cast convincingly display their bemusement in the way John is acting and you find yourself asking the same questions they are.
The script co-written by Salazar is tightly constructed and director Monty Miranda handles the action delicately throughout giving the film an almost voyeuristic feel at times. The problem though is a real lack of tension, especially in the final act. The Insomniac is a slow burning study of one man’s mainly self induced psychological terror and while you really feel the pain John is suffering (and can even see it through clever make up effects) there is little genuine involvement in his plight. There is rarely a time when you feel fear for the character, or discomfort in any of the situations he finds himself in and unfortunately this renders the film a little unsatisfying.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The Insomniac is without doubt a well made and impressively constructed film. Salazar is unquestionably a rising talent and it will be interesting to see how he builds on this strong showing. If anything though, the film would have benefited from being a little less polished as much of the action is slightly too refined. It would be a surprise if anyone didn’t enjoy The Insomniac, but it doesn’t do enough to remain too long in the memory and sadly falls just short of genuine success.
