Last night, I watched the classic 2017 Lifetime film, Sleepwalking In Suburbia.
Why Was I Watching It?
I was watching it as a part of the #MondayMania watch party! We’ve been watching the Stalked By My Doctor films and Sleepwalking In Suburbia, along with being a stand-alone film, leads into the fourth Stalked By Doctor film. While I watched, I realized that I hadn’t reviewed this film yet so I decided to get on it.
What Was It About?
Michelle Miller (Emillie Ullerup) has a nice house in the suburbs and a successful husband (Giles Panton) but she also has a sleepwalking problem. At night, she’ll get out of bed, leave the house, and, while in trance, go inside someone else’s house and either have sex in the living room or join them in bed. She’s been diagnosed with “sexsomia.”
One sleepwalking incident leads to her having sex with her neighbor, Luke (Carlo Marks). Now, every time that Luke sees Michelle, he’s like, “When are you coming by again?” and Michelle is like, “What are you even talking about, weirdo?”
Michelle’s pregnant! Her husband is all excited but is he the father or is it Luke? And when Luke’s wife seemingly vanishes, Michelle suspects that there might be murder in suburbia as well!
What Worked?
What worked? The entire movie, that’s what worked! Seriously, this was one of the greatest Lifetime films ever made. It embraced the melodrama. The plot featured twist after implausible twist. The performances were enjoyably over-the-top and I defy anyone not to smile when the kindly doctor announces that Michelle has “sexsomia.”
Here’s the thing: sexsomia is a real thing. Now, if you look it up on Wikipedia, it redirects to “sleep sex” but this is a Lifetime film and it’s obvious that it was understood that “sexsomia” just sounds better than “sleep sex.” Was this film a realistic portrayal of sexsomia? Who knows and who cares?
The title was absolutely brilliant. Anytime you see the word “suburbia” in the title of a Lifetime movie, you know you’re about to see something special. And I have to say that the film made the suburbs look very nice. All the houses were big and well-decorated. No one in the Lifetime universe lives in a small house (unless they’re living in a trailer parker, which does happen on occasion.) That’s the way things should be.
Emillie Ullerup gave a great performance as Michelle. Her intense sleepwalking stare was one of the thing that made this film so entertaining. Giles Panton and Carlo Marks also gave good performance as two of the men in her life in her waking and sleeping life. The scene where Panton, as Michlle’s husband, reveals that he wants to handcuff Michelle in bed so that she won’t leave is both horrifying and slightly funny. “Not kinky!” her husband assures her.
Finally, the film ended with one of those out-there twists that Lifetime is known for. Seriously, when you’re in a Lifetime film, trust no one! The film’s ending was also open-ended enough that it allowed Michelle to return for Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare.
What Did Not Work?
It all worked! This is a film that relentlessly and unapologetically embraced the melodrama in the best Lifetime tradition! When I talk about the best Lifetime films being self-aware without being too in-your-face about it, this is the type of film that I’m talking about.
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments
Wandering around in your night clothes in the middle of the night? Hey, I’ve been there! Of course, in my case, I was actually awake and I was checking on a cat. I have never broken into a house while just wearing a slip. I usually at least put on a robe before doing something like that.
Lessons Learned
Lock the door before you go to sleep. And the windows!
Through the Shattered Lens 