Announced on the Tou.tv site as a “psychological suspense full of mystery”, the web series Sleep with me plunges the viewer full force into the painful daily life of a bereaved couple. A year after the drowning of their six-year-old daughter, Camille (Emma Lafrenière, the adorable little plague of Outlive her children), in the family pool, Laurence (Sophie Cadieux) and Daniel (Ted Pluviose, the concierge Toussaint Pierre de We) see their relationship crumble as the days go by. Very early on, strange phenomena occurred in this house which had become too big. Is it Laurence who, despite the support of her best friend Nadia (Elkahna Talbi), sinks into psychosis? Or is it an evil entity manifesting its presence?
“When we created Sleep with me, we managed to put the human drama and not the codes of horror at the heart of the construction of the series, explains screenwriter Mireille Mayrand-Fiset, while mentioning that she has never experienced such a drama. Horror came to serve the story and not the other way around. It was important for us to tell a story first and foremost, to stage a drama, then to add elements of the horror that come to magnify, support and deepen it without it being too melodramatic. “
By relying on the first five of the eight episodes posted on the Radio-Canada press site, Sleep with me turns out to be a gripping drama mixed with horror and fantasy with images as neat as they are striking carried by an anxiety-provoking soundtrack by Pierre-Philippe Côté, alias Pilou, and Alexis Elina. Those who have not been able to watch series such The Haunting of Hill House Where Bly manor will they be able to savor this series produced by Charles Grenier?
“The tone that Charles has installed in his staging, in his images, is more of the level of anguish than terror, answers the screenwriter. It is not something that you are going to look at while hiding your eyes; Of course there are elements that approach the horror more head-on at the end, but I don’t know if I would use the word “terrifying”. “
A ghost
While Daniel tries to move on, to sell the house, to open the door to Camille’s bedroom, Laurence, unable to return to work, is the victim of hallucinations as often happens during mourning. At any moment, the specter of the girl appears to him. The more time passes, the more Laurence has the impression that her daughter wants to communicate with her, to prevent her from leaving the family home.
“There was in the writing a kind of intimacy of horror, advance Sophie Cadieux. It’s like a game of perceptions and that’s what guided the work a lot. This suspense has been my main playing partner. For me, throughout the shoot, it was something, it was someone. Charles tested a lot of more frontal, very perceptive things. Then, he had fun with the codes of horror, namely what really belongs to the reality of this sensation and to the mourning that is in process. That’s why we stay more in anguish and psychological drama than in frontal horror. The subject is so delicate that as soon as you have a little empathy, you understand where Laurence is going. “
In fact, although the atmosphere freezes the blood and the mystery captivates the interest from one episode to another, it is first the distress of this mother that upsets. Laurence is so invested in her mourning that she leaves little room for Daniel to express her own grief. Between them, the dialogue is scathing, pitiless.
“There was in Mireille’s text all the gradation of Laurence’s feelings,” explains the actress. Even in the silent scenes, there was already all that sensitivity; for me, it was really a pleasure to do this course. Daniel and Laurence are brought back to their last entrenchments. What I found beautiful about Mireille’s screenplay is the economy of words, the silences. The characters have ruminated so much in their silence and their own history that when they speak, there is no entry into the matter, it is extremely raw and violent. There are no more white gloves. “
A monster
From the first episode, the curious spectator will notice two names in the credits: that of the actor and dancer Lael Stellick, who plays the monster in the last episode, and that of the master of makeup and special effects Rémy Couture. Once again, the screenwriter is reassuring: “It’s horror soft. With Charles, we had many discussions about the monster. His vision and his achievement really complemented what I had put in place. We added a layer, a depth that delighted me. It seems that what he brought in his direction and his direction as an actor leaves a mark in the unconscious, creates a kind of uneasiness. “
“We often associate horror with slashers, to gore ; with the advent of series in burst, there are people who end up having access to that thanks to the various platforms. The fact that Tou.tv opened the door to this via a psychological drama that culminates in horror will convince people that they can push their limits and be interested in a story without having to fear the label of horror, ”concludes Sophie Cadieux.