The first two episodes of Insomnia are available to stream now on Paramount+. New episodes release weekly through June 20, 2024.
Synopsis
The series follows career driven Emma Averill whose life takes an unexpected turn. Just weeks shy of her 40th birthday, Emma finds herself ensnared in a web of sleeplessness, echoing her mother’s own past struggles. But as the past resurfaces, so do haunting doubts and fears. With her mother’s sudden hospitalisation, the return of her estranged sister, and an unnerving sense of being watched, Emma is thrust into a realm where truth is not what it seems… the past never sleeps.
Review
We’ve all been there. One bad night’s sleep leads to a day of twitchy eyelids and angsty mood swings. But what if the lack of sleep continued. A second day. Third. Even a fourth day. Just how long can the mind go without sleep before it snaps. The concept forms part of the foundation of new Paramount+ British thriller Insomnia which begins today with two episodes.
The series stars Vicky McClure as successful legal counsel Emma Averill. She has the loving husband, Rob (Tom Cullen), a much more carefree sister, Phoebe (Leanne Best), moody teenage daughter Chloe (India Fowler), and young son Will (Smylie Bradwell). They even have the idyllic countryside house many of us long for. But a week before her 40th birthday Emma stops sleeping. Most would shrug off the lack of sleep as an aberration. But not Emma. The same thing happened to her mother a week before her 40th birthday and culminated in a full mental breakdown and subsequent admission to a psychiatric unit. “Bad blood” her mother called it and she also claimed Emma has it too.
Insomnia is written for the screen by Sarah Pinborough who also wrote the novel on which the series is based. It doesn’t stray far from the well trodden formula of the British thriller. Emma’s comfortable, middle-class existence is completely upended when deeply buried family secrets begin to rear their ugly head. The return of Phoebe to her life and the news she brings of their mother becomes the inciting incident for Emma to spiral out of control. That one night of bad sleep pushing her to near obsession that her future is doomed by the curse of the “bad blood”.
Early episodes in the six-part series focus more on the family history aspect, layering in the tantalising notion that this could all be supernatural. We’re suckered in to this murky world through Börkur Sigþórsson’s confident direction. Sigþórsson re-teams with cinematographer Anna Patarakina, with whom he worked on the recent Midwich Cuckoos series, and the pair find some unique and genuinely cinematic ways to communicate Emma’s delirium through the visuals. It’s the perfect concoction of intriguing story, luscious visuals and strong casting to get Insomnia off and running.
Later episodes sidestep the “bad blood” and focus more on Emma’s mania, building up subplots around her to misdirect and distract until reveal time. Daughter Chloe flirts with drugs, much to her parents chagrin. After a particularly terse confrontation she utters the immortal line “it was only a bit of coke”. Just what every parent wants to hear. She also seems to be spending a lot of time with new friend Amy which leads to ever more aggressive confrontations between parent and child. At work Emma is in line for a promotion to partner at the law firm, but with the senior partners unhappy with her pro-bono family work her future seems to be in question. Then there’s Emma’s new friend Caroline (Lyndsey Marshal) whom she meets at the hospital after almost knocking her off her bike.
At times the drama can become soapy, distracting from the overall atmosphere. But the series is kept on track throughout by McClure’s steadfast performance. Fans of McClure’s procedural series will see an entirely different side to the soon to be national treasure. Lurching from moments of quiet introspection all the way up to the traditional screaming on the doorstep. McClure takes it all in her stride, anchoring the show a gritty reality which doesn’t feel a million miles away from reality. With a strong supporting cast around her it becomes impossible not to root for Team Averill and that’s where Insomnia stands out from other British thrillers.
Often this type of series focusses on either the characters, presenting a lacklustre story. Or it puts so much effort in to the story that its characters become paper thin and irredeemable in the eyes of the audience. Insomnia falls in to neither trap, instead enthralling me from start to finish as I tried to unravel its central mystery. Clearly whatever Pinborough was doing worked as I did not see the inevitable twist coming until shortly before it was revealed. The misdirections worked and I was suckered in by potential red herrings.
The series culminates in a tense and gripping finale which, at face value, ties everything up. With plenty of time for exposition Insomnia reveals its final twists and sends an entirely new light on events leading up to that moment. The attention to detail and immaculate placement of events and times is impressive to say the least. Whilst the conclusion might not be a surprise to viewers who have read the book. It certainly comes at the culmination of an intense and most unpredictable journey.
Verdict
Anchored by a tense and simmering performance from Vicky McClure, Insomnia is a riveting watch from its opening prelude right through to the bitter end. Writer Sarah Pinborough has penned a British thriller which revels in its own darkness.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
