A mental health crisis and ASMR collide to create a portrait of two lonely people in Auckland at night.

Director Tom Levesque riffs off an earlier project exploring K Pop as a mental health strategy and adds his own late night obsession with ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response).

Sierra (Millie Van Kol) is the epitome of melancholy awkwardness. Living in student accommodation but adrift after dropping out of her studies, a doctor suggests an ASMR app might help her insomnia. Through it she finds ASMR streamer Kate (Sarah May) and their online interactions turn into a friendship in real life. Sierra’s problems run deeper, though, and she struggles to function in Kate’s world.

Shot on a small budget and the first feature by Levesque, it has a solid start, particularly with the late night sounds and depiction of how easy it is to be lonely. Sierra and Kate have believable chemistry, as chance friends as well as potential lovers (although this plotline is treated with some coyness). It starts to come undone somewhat in the second half with dialogue and plot reveals that don’t feel so authentic.

Levesque might have been better served working with young female writers to get the language, motivations and dynamics of two young women to feel more real. The coda, although uplifting, feels like it sounded good on paper but is almost comical in its broad strokes.

Director: Tom Levesque
Origin: New Zealand (2022)
Language: English
Genre: Adventure , Drama , Thriller

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