I’ve been eager to see Carla MacKinnon’s artsy sleep paralysis documentary short for a long time. The eight minute film just won “Best Documentary” Prize at Cineglobe International Film Festival in Geneva and is now available to see for free.
The film is embedded below for your nail-biting pleasure.
A word of warning
Devil in the Room mixes really creepy puppetry arts with voice-over from a couple experts on sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis is a strange experience that is best described as your mind waking up from a dream while your body stays asleep. Your body remains paralyzed and sometimes you can project your dreamscape onto waking sensations and perceptions.
(My introduction to sleep paralysis is here if you want more info)
The film Devil in the Room focuses on the overwhelming feelings that come with sleep paralysis as well as coming face to face with the bizarre creatures of this realm.
It’s essentially a short horror movie, that, if you’ve ever had sleep paralysis and its attendant visions, will be pretty familiar and, for everyone else, very unsettling.
So, for best effect: watch alone, late at night, when the wind is making a tree branch outside scrape against the living room window.
For more about Carla MacKinnon’s work, check out her Sleep Paralysis Project. I am happy to see she’s included my book Sleep Paralysis in her list of resources.
But wait there’s more
It’s really a good time for sleep paralysis in the news, as there’s another documentary project gearing up, this time by the producers of the Kubrick documentary Room 237.
They are looking for sleep paralysis stories, and the best way is to add them to their facebook page.
I am especially hoping my readers will send in narratives of their positive and transformative sleep paralysis encounters, as these aspects are rarely explored in depth.
Wasn’t scary for me, but I could see how it could be for children.