''Laura Hasn't Slept'' is a 2020 American

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

written, co-produced, and directed by

Parker Finn Parker J. Finn (born March 18, 1987) is an American filmmaker. Finn wrote and directed the horror films ''Smile'' (2022) and its sequel ''Smile 2'' (2024). Early life Finn was born on March 18, 1987, in Bath, Ohio. He attended the University ...

. The film stars

Caitlin Stasey Caitlin Jean Stasey (born 1 May 1990) is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Rachel Kinski in ''Neighbours''. Previously she played Francesca Thomas in '' The Sleepover Club'', although her breakthrough film role cam ...

and

Lew Temple Lew Temple (born October 2, 1967) is an American actor known for roles in ''Domino'' and ''Waitress'', and for playing Axel in the third season of '' The Walking Dead''. Early life Temple was raised in Texas. He was the 1982 Baseball MVP at Ro ...

. ''Laura Hasn't Slept'' acts as the first film and prequel in Finn's feature-length horror series ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

'' (2022), in which Stasey briefly reprised her role. It was subsequently followed by a franchise of the same name.

Plot

Laura Weaver sees her therapist Dr. Parsons and tells him about a recurring nightmare in which a sinister figure constantly smiles at her while taking the appearance of different people, resulting in her developing a fear of sleeping. Soon, Laura discovers that she is still experiencing the nightmares and is currently in one when Parsons' office begins to decay and he morphs into a grotesque creature that wants to force Laura to look at its "true face". Refusing to look, Laura runs out of the office but returns a few moments later when she believes that the monster has gone; however, it appears in front of her, causing her to go insane and scream while ripping off her own face.

Cast

as Laura Weaver *

as Dr. Parsons

Release

The film was screened at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

. Following the success of ''Smile'', it was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in November 2022.

Reception

''Nightmarish Conjurings'' does "not recommend the film if you're having problems sleeping". ''Morbidly Beautiful'' scored it 4.5 out of 5.

References

External links

* *
''Laura Hasn't Slept''
on

{{Authority control Smile (film series) 2020 horror films 2020 films 2020 short films American horror short films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films Films directed by Parker Finn Films about nightmares Films about sleep disorders Films released on YouTube English-language horror short films