68
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91IndieWireEric KohnIndieWireEric KohnCutting between various chilling anecdotes of sinister late night visions and horrifying reenactments, The Nightmare manages a tricky balance of visceral fright and sincere investigation. It's a rare non-fiction achievement that earns the ability to freak you out.
- 88Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenAs in Rodney Ascher's previous film, Room 237, the subject of obsession is complemented by a despairing attempt to process it, corral it, and somehow conquer it.
- 80The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanMore frightening (yet strangely entertaining) than most of today’s narrative horror films.
- 80The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasWith The Nightmare, Ascher abandons the strictures of a conventional documentary to frolic in the terrifying netherworlds of human consciousness. It’s not enough for Ascher, a sufferer himself, to tell his audience about sleep paralysis—they have to feel it, too.
- 75The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe human brain, this movie suggests, is the ultimate horror-movie director, and sleep-paralysis hallucinations are just an extreme form of the standard-issue nightmares we all unwillingly create on a regular basis. It’s one thing to be tormented. It’s another thing to face the grim reality that you’re tormenting yourself.
- 70VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangWhether it is the movies that have shaped our dreams or our dreams that have shaped the movies, it’s safe to assume that The Nightmare will find its place in that eternally recurring cycle.
- 70Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAscher sometimes indulges in jump scares, and there's one unconvincing burst of gore. At first, these horror techniques seemed to me a mistake, but his subjects themselves continually link their experiences to movies they've seen, especially Communion and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNeither as frightening as a good horror flick nor as enlightening as a straight documentary, Rodney Ascher's The Nightmare borrows from both worlds in its depiction of the phenomenon known as sleep paralysis.
- Ascher may be a better media analyst, or mythologist, than chronicler of the human condition. With The Nightmare’s foregrounding of the paranormal and refusal to acknowledge the psychological, the project sometimes feels disingenuous.
- 58The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe Nightmare can be deeply distressing and blood-curdling, and it can be a little silly, too.