In Alexandra Simpson’s engrossing art film No Sleep Till, a hurricane is about to hit downscale Florida beach towns; the tourists are already gone, and workaday Floridians prepare to evacuate or hunker down. The storm is merely the setting for a compendium of short stories, as Simpson reveals essential truths about her characters, one or two at a time – a lost crush, a solitary obsession, a resuscitated friendship. Each chapter is so authentic, I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t watching a cinema verité documentary.
No Sleep Till is the directorial debut of Alexandra Simpson, who also wrote, edited, produced and collaborated on the sound design. Simpson and cinematographer Sylvain Froidevaux capture the ominous weather, which mirrors the turbulence in the lives of the characters.
Simpson is a writer of uncommon economy. One character is a middle-aged woman, whom we meet when she and her workmates are regretfully let go by their boss. We see her again when she returns to the motel room where is living with an unrelated roommate of convenience. And, finally, when she goes to the motel pool and contemplates her lot in life. She’s probably on screen for less than three minutes, and she doesn’t utter a line, but Simpson still is able to tell us so much about her and make us care about her personal heartbreak.
Another highlight is when one young guy (Jordan Coley) persuades his reluctant buddy (Xavier Brown-Sanders) to join him on an evacuation road trip, in which their friendship evolves. Both Coley and Brown-Sanders are excellent in their first feature film performances.
The characters in No Sleep Till deliver meals, service swimming pools and staff souvenir shops; nobody has a sexy movie job like architect, writer or detective. One guy doesn’t have any job; he devotes his life to storm chasing, living in his truck with meteorologic gear and little food or clothes.
No Sleep Till premiered at the Venice Film Festival Critics Week, where it won two awards including best film. No Sleep Till is starting to roll out into arthouses, beginning July 18 at NYC’s Metrograph. I’ll let you know when it hits California theaters and the internet.