Sleep becomes a trap rather than an escape in Parasomnia, a 2025 horror-thriller from director James Ross II.
What is Parasomnia about?
The story follows a woman diagnosed with a rare condition that pulls her under for days or weeks at a stretch, leaving only brief, disorienting windows of consciousness. Those rare waking moments carry mounting dread, as the film treats sleep itself as an unstable, almost hostile state rather than a place of rest. Jasmine Mathews leads a cast that also includes RJ Brown, Sally Stewart, Stephen Barrington, Danny Brown, Simon Longnight, David Girard, and River Blossom, playing out the fallout of a body and mind slipping out of sync with the waking world. Rather than leaning on jump scares alone, the film builds tension around the uncertainty of what happens, and who is present, during the long stretches its central character cannot witness.
About the cast
Jasmine Mathews anchors the film as the woman at the center of the condition, with RJ Brown, Sally Stewart, and Stephen Barrington rounding out the people around her. Danny Brown, Simon Longnight, David Girard, and River Blossom fill the remaining roles, giving the production an ensemble feel even though its focus stays tight on one fractured perspective.
Context & significance
James Ross II directs a production that arrives from the United States as part of a recent wave of horror built around medical conditions rather than supernatural lore, the appeal being that the threat could, in theory, happen to anyone. With a horror-thriller genre pairing and a lean 103-minute runtime, the film keeps its premise focused rather than sprawling, and its reception on release has been the kind of divided response typical of genre films that split audiences on tone and pacing.
Watching Parasomnia on Ktime
Parasomnia streams on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, so it's ready to watch in Farsi or with the original English audio and Farsi text on screen. Watching requires only a free K-Time account login, no subscription card or trial needed to start watching. The Farsi-first interface makes it simple to browse into for readers of the Iranian diaspora who want their horror without an English-only wall.