The Wasteland Reviewer

Sleepwalker (2026) Written Review

What is one of the most horrifying experiences that human beings experience on a regular basis? Sleepwalking. Your body kicks into gear and you are nowhere to be found. You can do anything and not even realize it. This can be dangerous for sure. Horror films and documentaries love exploring this strange phenomenon and leveraging it for cinematic experience. Dreams are already something unpredictable and unknown (even though so many have tried to make sense of them for centuries). But the horrific combination of sleepwalking and dreams gives the new horror/thriller Sleepwalker its foundation. 

How does Brandon Auman bring his script to life from behind the camera? Unfortunately, there is not a strong foundation for this interesting concept to develop on. The film is poorly lit at times making some of the more intense moments less impactful since you struggle to see what is going on. Auman plays around with some common visual tropes and cliches from other films regarding set-ups for different scares. Sure, there are a few good set ups, but the camera work and lighting are a bit too clunky to deliver an effective experience. The pacing of the film is uneven with how choppy the narrative presentation is. This is a film that navigates heavy themes and scenarios, but its clunky execution undercuts the effectiveness. Sleepwalker should be considerably tenser, more emotional, and more suspenseful…but it just is not. 

Does the story offer something compelling? Overall, this is a dark and twisted tale with plenty of potential. Unfortunately, there are just too many elements in the screenplay that undercut that potential. The ending of this film is compelling and shocking from a narrative perspective. The build-up to this moment is so sloppy and uneven that it blunts the impact of the story. The story cuts back to one significant night for this family in crisis but does it too intermittently as it feels so repetitive. The leveraging of dreams is too heavy-handed and overly relied upon. The blurring of reality is an important piece of this story, but the script overdoes it and takes away all the impact. There are also some lazy tropes in the narrative including bringing in a medium to connect to the malevolent spirit in the story. Then you have the husband character. The writing for this character is so cartoonish and stereotypical that it undercuts the horrific behavior and attitude in the film. There is a deeply emotional core story here that is just too overshadowed by everything else. 

Do the actors inject some impact into the film? The cast is quite inconsistent on screen, which brings the experience down quite a bit. Hayden Panettiere is the anchor to the whole film as the film’s tortured protagonist (haunted by the dark spirit of her abusive husband). Panettiere’s performance is quite inconsistent (which sets the tone for the film). There are some moments of clunky line deliveries and overacting, but she does deliver in some emotional moments as well. Beverly D’Angelo (Panettiere’s on screen mother). is a stalwart veteran presence for the film and gives the most consistent and sturdy performance. Justin Chatwin delivers a big and exaggerated performance with a poorly written character (the husband), so it is hard to pinpoint the main issue with this performance. The child actors are fine delivering what they are expected to (and it would not be right to overly criticize children especially when the adults on screen are not delivering so well either). Then you have Mischa Barton (Panettiere’s on screen sister-in-law). Almost every line out of her mouth is clunky and feels inauthentic. Lori Tan Chinn is such a fun presence whenever she shows up on a screen, but she feels off in tone for such an overly serious film. 

Is Sleepwalker a fun twisted thriller for the January movie season? Unfortunately, the fun might be at the expense of the film. The film attempts to navigate physical and emotional abuse and so dark horror motifs, but it all feels too over-the-top and melodramatic to be taken seriously. This gives vibes closer to a Lifetime release than a horror/thriller. The cast is not the most consistent, which is understandable with how clunky this script can be. Fleeting thrills and emotions cannot do right by these sensitive themes and a shocking and heavy finale.