Movie review: The sleepwalker

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  The feature film, “The Sleepwalker”, directed by Mona Fastvold, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 20, 2014.

  The movie is about two sisters with a mysterious past connecting each other. One of the sisters named Christine, played by Stephanie Ellis, sleep walks in the middle of the night, causing the other sister Kaia, played by Gitte Witt, to go pick her up.

  From the beginning, there was a very apparent awkward vibe coming from both of the sisters. It was like they were complete strangers.

  As the movie goes on, it becomes very apparent that they are half sisters, and that they didn’t meet until they were in their teens.

  They go back to their childhood home because Kaia still lives there and is currently refurbishing the house with her boyfriend, Andrew, played by Christopher Abbott.

  Andrew and Kaia have a strange relationship toward each other. However, it did not really make sense for the girl to still live at her old home.

  The movie eventually breaks out into a murder mystery, but it takes too long to get to the end. The movie was almost over when the mystery pretty much starts.

  The film tries to throw the audience off by hiding the murder in general (because the murder happens off screen).

  This was not a good choice for the filmmaker to make when the majority of people watching it might have no idea what is even going on.

  Making a film should go by the popular demand, so that everybody can enjoy the film. Instead, viewers left the theater not even knowing what went on in the movie.

  The movie also had some pointless scenes that had nothing to do with the plot. For example, in the middle of the movie, the main characters were randomly dancing. That shouldn’t have made it past the cutting room floor.

  The actors were slightly better than the film. Stephanie Ellis stood out as the best actor in the movie. She was crazy, and it was really believable. She was impressive, and she wasn’t even the lead role for the movie. Christopher Abbott, who pretty much played a jock, was less impressive. There were many moments for his character to shine, but it just did not happen.

  This movie is just plain confusing. If you like odd movies that make you think, go check it out.