A woman with insomnia develops a connection with a sleepwalker in Nocturne. Cindy (Mary Krohnert) is woman, whose anxiety prevents her from sleeping. Cindy notices some odd behaviour in her co-worker Armen (Knickoy Robinson), who turns out to be a sleepwalker. Cindy begins to follow Armen around at night and the two begin have an unlikely connection, especially as Cindy begins to piece together what the various actions he performs mean. Nocturne is a film that is described as an offbeat urban fairy tale. This makes sense, since Cindy is a person who grew up loving fairy tales and even received some acclaim at the age of 8 for publishing a storybook entitled The Perils of Pirate Peacock. However, Cindy finds herself under the thumb of her cruel aunt (Marcia Bennett), who still views Cindy as a little girl. Cindy's encounters is Armen is almost a way for her to escape the anxiety of her life and the two start to develop a real connection with each other, even though Armen is sleepwalking for most of their encounters. Nocturne is definitely an interesting mix of drama and fantasy, particularly in how the first act of the film has very little dialogue, with the story being told primarily through the visuals. The film also has some pretty impressive animated flashbacks, which take the form of the sketches that Cindy is always seen drawing. While I was initially a little unsure if Nocturne's premise could hold up as a feature length film, there are enough developments in the plot to keep me engaged. Altogether, Nocturne is decent enough urban fairy tale. ★ ★ ★ 1/2 | FAIR
