No Sleep Till Review: The Calm Before The Storm

Alexandra Simpson’s debut No Sleep Till is a slow but confidently meditative portrait of people confronting all kinds of adversities.

No Sleep Till continues in the vein of other releases from Omnes Films, the independent film collective that gave us last year’s Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point and unsung gem Eephus. As in those films, the characters in No Sleep Till are contemplating their relationship to a place that could be taken away from them. Tonally, Omnes’ latest release has more in common with their 2019 film Ham On Rye, a movie defined by a gentle woozy absurdness. Writer-director Simpson creates a patient and meditative film, albeit based around an obvious metaphor. It would be easy to accuse the incoming storm of being blatant, but at least it’s effective. The film boasts sufficient thoughtfulness and a gentle pace to encourage the audience to ruminate on their own storms.

As the storm approaches the coast, a variety of residents are contemplating their next move, both in the context of the storm and in life in general. A pair of jobbing stand-up comedians make a break for the north in hopes of greater opportunities, while a wannabe stormchaser weighs up the pros and cons of actively hunting down a tornado. If anyone expects No Sleep Till to show damage and destruction raining down on its various inhabitants, they should look elsewhere. The turmoils here are almost all internal. Simpson’s camera angles focus on the faces of her cast of unknowns, capturing them from outside car windows or from behind display cases. We are always aware that we are only ever observers of these characters, like the tourists they serve every day.

That distance between the audience and the characters emphasizes the internality of the denizens of No Sleep Till, and helps to set its pace. No matter what happens to them, these fraught Floridians take it in their stride. Pool cleaners talk out their next moves as the storm forces their pool shut, while a group of hotel employees sit calmly to ponder after they’ve been informed they’ve been laid off. Their location has hardened them to the curveballs that life and Mother Nature can throw their way, and their stoicism is a refreshment in an age of online arguments and increased hostility. There is nothing like impending disaster to force you to stop and think about what you need to do next.

No Sleep Till has a lot in common with The Florida Project, another plotless portrait of a liminal space in the Sunshine State. The pensiveness of No Sleep Till is ultimately an asset, but it lacks the dynamism of Sean Baker’s gem, and this self-aware slowness will grate on some, even at barely 90 minutes long.

Simpson paints a portrait of eerie calm, with the impending storm offering the landscape the opportunity to show off its true beauty. The visuals from DoP Sylvain Froidevaux capture the increasingly sticky heat in the off-black night. A sunset over a bridge glows seductively and reassuringly, calling the people to cross over the bridge and escape while they can. While comedians and pool cleaners contemplate their lot, teenagers on bikes and skateboards chug along under their own momentum, if only because they know that they’ll be better off moving forward. No Sleep Till is a reminder to plot your way out of your own storms, but to be sure you know the way before you go.

No Sleep Till will have an exclusive one-week theatrical run at the Metrograph (New York) from July 18, 2025. The film will also be available to watch on Metrograph at Home.