NIGHTMARE

Germany, 2016, 92 minutes, Colour.
Carolyn Genzkow.
Directed by Akiz.

At the beginning of the film, the makers urge the audience to accept loudness of the soundtrack, even to turn up the sound. The reason is that there are many sequences of hard rock music, instruments, dancing, partying.

The central character of this film, who has the nightmare, is a young woman, finishing her schooling, seen sometimes in class, with her girlfriends, though spending a lot of her spare time out partying, drinking, drugs, flirting.

At the opening, she and her friends are in the car, taking selfies, when they find a mysterious creature in one of the photos. And so the question arises, how much is in the young woman’s mind, especially when she goes home, hears noises downstairs, sees a creature outside the refrigerator, who is not seen by her irritated parents.

As the film goes on, she sees the creature more and more, sometimes placid, sometimes aggressive, always rather mysterious. It so affects her that her parents advise her to see a counsellor, who tries to be sympathetic as well as positive. She also alerts her poetry teacher who tries to have a conversation with her.

So, where is this to go? The continued nightmare? Some kind of waking up and healing? This is not the kind of film that offers clear-cut solutions and endings.