Sleepwalk

The film opens in a dim apartment where a bound Chinese manuscript hangs on an altar. An unidentified woman opens the altar, removes the first page, rolls it up, and leaves with it, while another figure later repeats the act, leaving the rest of the text behind in the shadows.

Nicole, a casual Chinese language translator, works at a small production company under a grumpy boss who handles phones. Two men arrive with cash and hire her to translate the enigmatic text, and one seems to be the man from the opening scene, his fingers missing. The assignment is after hours and hints that the manuscript has dangerous powers.

Nicole's friend and roommate Isabelle visits and banters with her, revealing she is an illegal immigrant who lights up when opportunities to be gifted money arise. Their lively exchange hints at the precarious life outside work and foreshadows the manuscript's pull on their world.

As Nicole begins translating the manuscript, its powers begin to seep into her life, bringing misfortune and a growing sense of being watched. The more she works, the more the text seems to steer her choices and strain her relationships.

The next day an Asian woman named Ecco arrives and pays Nicole to translate more text. The boss takes the cash and insists Nicole will not work on the text in a freelance capacity, laying the groundwork for a later rooftop meeting. Nicole remains wary as she agrees to meet Ecco again.

Nicole waits for a rooftop meeting with Ecco, where the continuation of translation is arranged and the ominous assignment continues. The encounter heightens the tension as the manuscript's influence grows stronger.

Two cops arrive at the workplace with Ecco's receipt and explain that the woman who paid for the text has been killed and her fingers were dismembered. Nicole listens from a distance, the violence underscoring the manuscript's dangerous reach.

That night, Nicole leaves her workplace and feels a menacing atmosphere in the elevator and building corridors. She passes the two men who delivered the first text, who still inhabit one floor, heightening her fear of what they know and what the manuscript does to people.

Isabelle cries as her hair has fallen out, a sign of the manuscript's reach and danger. Nicole offers her money to take her son Jimmy to Atlantic City for a gamble, hoping to salvage some normalcy while the tension mounts.

Nicole and Isabelle drive with Jimmy asleep in the back seat toward Atlantic City, but a thief steals the car. Isabelle returns home, tells Nicole that her son is missing, and the atmosphere grows heavier as they realize something terrible has happened.

When the thief delivers the stolen car to his partner, she spots the child and refuses to take the car, sending them away. The thief then kidnaps and blindfolds Jimmy, eventually placing him on a wall at the beach.

Jimmy sits blindfolded on the wall at the beach, unaware that Nicole sleeps nearby in the same area. The film closes on this unresolved, tense image as the manuscript's dark powers linger over their lives.