State Like Sleep, written and directed by Meredith Danluck, starts with the supposed suicide of a famous Belgian movie star, Stefan Grand (Michiel Huisman).
Unable to deal with his death, Stefan’s wife, Katherine (Katherine Waterston) leaves the forensics scene midway as well as the entire city of Brussels where he died. It isn’t until a year later when she receives a call about her mother being in a hospital in Brussels that she must return and untangle the mystery around Stefan’s death. Upon her return to the city, Katherine discovers that her late husband’s last call was to Emile (Luke Evans), a man who is associated with ‘Lebellfleur’, a gentleman’s club that services rather niche desires. Katherine visits the club and is confronted by Emile as he cartoonishly tells her that Stefan had secrets which would be better left undiscovered before she gets hurt. Yet when we learn that Stefan’s secret was a drug problem, it seems like a rather modest secret for a celebrity.
Michael Shannon brings the charm as a neighbor turned lover
Other questions Katherine asks about Stefan’s death also have anticlimactic answers: it really was a suicide; the photos of Stefan with another woman were of him and his therapist; the money in Stefan’s locker was not for anything suspicious; instead, it was his apology to her for everything, for his suicide and their failing relationship. And in another subplot, we meet Michael Shannon’s character, Edward, who lives in a neighboring hotel room and who initiates a relationship with Katherine.
The “Murder Mystery” aspect isn’t so mysterious after all
The film starts off with the question of whether Stefan really died by a gunshot suicide. Yet State Like Sleep has a plain answer to this mystery, and at one point turns instead into a study about grief, failing marriages, and love. The film is an attempt to subvert expectations of a typical murder mystery but there are too many tonal shifts — back and forth from mystery to drama to romance — to accomplish this. The scenes with Katherine and Edward are the most interesting as they explore something emotional and Michael Shannon, in his way, gives his character a charming wit as they both question each other’s opinions on love and cheating. The other characters such as the controlling, disapproving mom and the shady best friend feel dull in comparison because they are written to expand the mystery around Stefan’s death. It would have been interesting to see Katherine and Edward banter for the rest of the film but Katherine must return to the other plots of the story, like wrapping up Stefan’s suicide.
Ultimately, it’s a generic tale of love and loss
In the end, the film becomes not about Stefan’s suicide but more about the burden of loss. Katherine’s mother dies and overshadows Stefan’s story. Ultimately, State Like Sleep falls short of its own expectations to be a complex look at grief, exploring how Katherine deals with Stefan’s death and in parallel, her mother’s, while also finding closure and strength in new love. The film is unable to tie these three threads into a coherent theme, instead of detracting each one from the other.
‘State like Sleep’ is Unrated. 104 Minutes. Opening this Friday at Laemmle Music Hall.
