Sleepwalk

The events unfold in a contemporary urban setting, using present-day office equipment and a freelance-after-hours workflow. Technology, cash payments, and a rooftop meeting anchor the period in recent times. The overall tone matches a current-day city thriller, where ordinary spaces hide extraordinary forces.

Set largely within a cramped urban apartment, a modest production office, and a rooftop encounter, the action shifts across city streets and a beach along Atlantic City. The interior spaces—elevators, shared offices, and dim corridors—provide a noir-tinged backdrop for the unfolding mystery. The city’s atmosphere amplifies the manuscript’s uncanny pull, turning ordinary routines into a web of danger.

🔮 Possession

A mysterious Chinese manuscript exerts a creeping influence on Nicole, blurring the line between text and reality. The pages seem to alter luck and direction, pulling her life into a dangerous spiral. What starts as a freelance gig quickly expands into a life-consuming force that reshapes relationships and choices. The manuscript functions like a parasite that feeds on routine and trust.

💰 Greed and Consequence

Money exchanges hands to trigger Nicole's translation work, tying financial incentive to peril. Isabelle’s willingness to chase money shows how greed erodes loyalty and invites risk. The pursuit of profit becomes a motive for crime surrounding the text.

🧭 Identity and Fate

Characters confront whether they are authors of their own lives or subjects of a larger script. The manuscript’s power challenges autonomy and reveals how fate can appear to be written by forces outside ourselves. As Nicole fights to hold on to herself and her son, the line between self and circumstance is blurred.