Devil in the room

8 MINUTES

When dreams touch reality – the liminal world of sleep paralysis

Have you ever woken from a deep sleep, totally lucid but unable to move? Devil in the Room explores this space between dream and reality, explaining the science and history behind sleep paralysis – a mystifying and often terrifying phenomenon in which dreams intrude upon waking life. Through evocative stop-motion animation and puppets, the UK director Carla MacKinnon recreates these waking dreams, bringing to life spiders that seem to crawl out from under the bed, and the feeling of a monstrous presence lurking just out of sight.

SLEEP AND DREAMS ALTERED STATES SLEEP PROBLEMS

Director: Carla MacKinnon

Producer: James Mullighan

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Photo collage of a surreal bedroom scene from the perspective of a person in bed, featuring floating books, striped bedsheets, wall art, a window, and a bedside lamp.

A surreal ode to the wee hours when daily anxieties meet sleepless dreams

Directed by Christine Hooper

Abstract image of a silhouette against blue light with blurred text in the background, digital art.

SLEEP AND DREAMS

What dream characters reveal about the astonishing dreaming brain

Such stuff as dreams are made on: the characters who populate your dreams have their own minds, separate from yours

by Antonio Zadra

A dark room with a table, chair, bookshelves, and numerous faint, ghostly figures sketched on furniture, walls, and floor.

THE NATURE OF REALITY

An animated figure’s world grows enigmatic when he begins to doubt reality

Directed by Jeong Dahee

A blonde woman in a white robe smiles in a bathroom with two people filming in the background, bathed in soft lighting.

SEX AND SEXUALITY

The filmmakers who transform fantasies into videos with an audience of one

Directed by Chung Nguyen

Black and white photo of a person sleeping on a train with their head on a blanket near a window with a blurred view outside.

SLEEP AND DREAMS

The brain’s twilight zone: when you’re neither awake nor asleep

Neuroscientists are demystifying this in-between state, uncovering its role in memory processing and its creative potential

by Célia Lacaux

Silhouette of a person climbing a steep, diagonal staircase against a gradient sky in grayscale.

A darkly playful dance of shadows, surreal visions and transformation

Directed by Douglas Bernardt

Aerial black and white photograph of a biplane flying over Edinburgh Castle and cityscape with dramatic clouds.

SLEEP AND DREAMS

Five ways to take control of your dreams

Lucid dreaming lets you shape your dreamscape, whether your aims are practical or fantastical. These tips can get you started

by Christian Jarrett

Animation of a girl in a red cap sitting in a tree, with a fox below and vibrant plants and mushrooms surrounding them.

Martha’s adventures through the washing machine looking-glass

Directed by Hannah Jacobs