Irish director Ian Hunt-Duffy’s debut film, from an admirably lean screenplay by Darach McGarrigle, is a supremely tense thriller, effective and efficient in its execution. Claire (Millie Brady) has volunteered for a pharmaceutical trial with a lucrative payoff. Sequestered in the drug company’s austere facilities, the usually reticent and introverted young woman finds herself part of a group that includes chatterbox Alison (Abby Fitz) and medical student Amir (Akshay Kumar), supervised by the no-nonsense Dr. Burke (Pollyanna McIntosh). Once the trial is underway, it is quickly discovered that one of the side-effects of the experimental drug the group has taken is death, if they fall asleep. Forced to stay awake and work together to escape their predicament even as tempers fray and grips on reality slip due to exhaustion, the building paranoia makes for a gripping and unsettling experience.

Notes by Kevin Coyne