Insomnia (1998)
87%RT Audience Score: 77%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 11 nominations
Taut and chilly, Insomnia is a solid showcase for Stellan Skarsgård’s estimable acting — and a brilliant debut for director Erik Skjoldbjærg
Insomnia is like a cup of coffee that you shouldn’t have had after 4 pm. It’s a psychological thriller that will keep you up all night, but not because it’s scary. It’s because you’ll be too busy trying to figure out what’s going on. Stellan Skarsgard’s performance is so good that you’ll forget he’s not actually a cop. The movie is like a game of chess, but instead of pieces, they’re using people’s lives. It’s a movie that will make you question your own morality, and that’s always a good thing.
Production Company(ies)
Therapy Content Roswell Films,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Alaska, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language, some violence and brief nudity
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Nov 16, 2004
Genre(s)
Drama/Crime
Keyword(s)
Insomnia, Stellan Skarsgård, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Erik Skjoldbjærg, Petter J Borgli, Tomas Backstrom, Tom Remlov, Drama, Crime, Mystery & Thriller, $88.0K, 1h 39m, reviewed by Steven Gaydos, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Xan Brooks, Paul Tatara, Owen Gleiberman, Tom Charity, Total Film Staff, Nicholas Bell, Walter Chaw, Eric Melin, Christopher Long, directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg, written by Nikolaj Frobenius, Erik Skjoldbjærg, produced by Petter J Borgli, Tomas Backstrom, Tom Remlov, MPAA rating, homicide, killer, guilt, insomnia, northern Norway, detectives, fugitive, psychological thriller, solid showcase, brilliant debut, taut, chilly, eye-opener
Worldwide gross: $113,758,770
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $188,676,039
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 729
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 20,575,359
US/Canada gross: $67,355,513
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $111,713,333
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 672
US/Canada opening weekend: $20,930,169
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $34,713,995
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 374
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $46,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $76,293,879
Production budget ranking: 552
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $41,084,254
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $71,297,907
ROI to date (est.): 61%
ROI ranking: 1,096
Sverre Anker Ousdal – Erik Vik
Bjørn Floberg – Jon Holt
Gisken Armand – Hilde Hagen
Maria Bonnevie – Ane
Maria Mathiesen – Tanja Lorentzen
Director(s)
Erik Skjoldbjærg
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Petter J. Borgli, Tomas Backstrom, Tom Remlov
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 11 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (2)
A remarkably polished and thoughtful first feature by Norwegian helmer Erik Skjoldbjaerg, psychological crime thriller “Insomnia” is an eye-opener.
February 28, 2021
Steven Gaydos
Variety
TOP CRITIC
It’s nice to see a genre film from abroad for a change, but I would have preferred one with an interesting character or two, not to mention a livelier plot.
February 28, 2021
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
It’s [Stellan Skarsgard’s] controlled performance that galvanises this otherwise underpowered thriller.
March 29, 2019
Xan Brooks
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Insomnia is the sort of picture big studios used to make when they still believed they could take audiences on a ride without rubbing their faces in digital gloss.
February 6, 2018
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
TOP CRITIC
Insomnia is occasionally a bit too saturnine, but should this filmmaker choose to go Hollywood, there’s every chance that he’ll be major.
April 5, 2012 | Rating: A-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
A superbly controlled actor, Skarsgård shows us an incisive mind shutting out humanity to fall into perilous complicity with his prey. A taut and distinctive example of genre film-making.
June 24, 2006
Tom Charity
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
A genuinely un-nerving psychological thriller, Insomnia is one of the year’s best foreign-language releases.
February 28, 2021
Total Film Staff
Total Film
An inverted film noir, utilizing light instead of shadow, there’s a cold blankness to the film, making it a sort of waking nightmare.
November 4, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
a masterpiece of unease and illness, the more so because the terminal sickness it describes is a universal condition.
December 29, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
… a paranoid noir thriller in broad daylight, and Skarsgard inhabits his role so naturally that when he starts going off the rails, it’s as disorienting as it is disturbing.
October 6, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Eric Melin
Lawrence.com
It becomes clear the title of the film could just as well be ‘The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – Troms.’
August 3, 2014 | Rating: 8/10
Christopher Long
Movie Metropolis
fascinated by the conundrums of human psychology and moral frailty, which is why the film is centered on a protagonist who is generally dislikable as a person, yet is inherently compelling as a human subject.
July 28, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk…
Plot
In Nightmute, Alaska, seventeen year old resident Kay Connell is found murdered. As a favor to the local Nightmute police chief, two Los Angeles Robbery Homicide police detectives, Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart, are called in to assist in the investigation. Although renowned in the police world, both Dormer and Eckhart are facing some professional issues back in Los Angeles. In Nightmute, Dormer has a major case of insomnia due to a combination of the incessant midnight sun and from a secret he is carrying. This insomnia is causing him to be delusional. Something he is not dreaming about is that the murderer has contacted him, informing him all about the murder and the fact that he knows everything that is going on with Dormer. They begin a symbiotic relationship in keeping secrets for each individual’s benefit. But ambitious young local detective, Ellie Burr, might piece the story together on her own.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises Stellan Skarsgård’s “estimable acting” in Insomnia.
Erik-Skjoldbjærg.jpg
