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Characters & Themes

Slumber (2017) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
2017 · 84 min · English
Echo score 29
JustWatch #13,253 9
Directed by
Jonathan Hopkins
Starring
Honor Kneafsey, Sylvester McCoy, Will Kemp, William Hope, Sam Troughton, Maggie Q

As night falls, a rationalist named Alice finds herself facing inexplicable supernatural events when a family’s terrifying nightmares worsen. Investigating the escalating disturbances, she uncovers a sinister entity known as the Night Hag, which appears connected to her brother's death and her own troubled history. Alice must confront the malevolent force and unravel the mystery behind the family's shared terrors.

On this page (8)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (7)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (4)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Movies like Slumber
  8. 8 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Slumber (2017)

Where can you watch Slumber? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla and Fandango at Home Free: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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7 main characters · contains spoilers

Slumber Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of Slumber (2017), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Alice Arnolds (Maggie Q)

    Dr. Alice Arnolds is a respected sleep therapist and neurologist whose clinical rationality masks a deep personal trauma from her brother's death. She is skeptical of the supernatural, yet her investigation into the Nocnitsa pushes her to confront guilt and fear. Her intellect drives her to attempt a dangerous dream-merge to face the demon, showing both medical resolve and emotional vulnerability.

    • 🧪 Scientist
    • 🧭 Rational
    • 🌫️ Haunted
  • Charlie Morgan (Sylvester McCoy)

    Charlie Morgan is the Morgan family’s father, appearing calm at first but becoming violent and withdrawn as night episodes intensify. His body seems controlled during a sleep-induced attack on Alice, signaling the demon's reach into the waking world. The bruises, erratic behavior, and disturbed sleep illustrate the threat’s grip on the family.

    • 🛡️ Protective
    • 🌀 Violent
    • 🌀 Disturbed
  • Sarah Morgan (Kristen Bush)

    Sarah Morgan is the mother who bears the burden of her family’s fear, seeking answers and safety for her children. She shares with Alice the truth about Charlie’s changes and supports dangerous experiments to protect Daniel. Her resilience anchors the family as the supernatural threat tests their sanity and unity.

    • 🧭 Protective
    • 🧠 Caring
    • 🕯️ Supportive
  • Emily Morgan (Grace Schneider)

    Emily is the teenage daughter who begins to glimpse the haunting figure, acting as a witness to the creeping horror. Her awareness of the night-haunting presence adds a layer of fear and empathy as the family fights to keep Daniel safe. She embodies the vulnerable but perceptive observer of abnormal events.

    • 👧 Witness
    • 🧠 Perceptive
    • 🕯️ Fearful
  • Daniel Morgan (Lucas Bond)

    Daniel is the young boy plagued by severe sleep disturbances, screaming and thrashing in his room. He describes a dark figure that sits on his chest and drains his life, a victim-turned-carrier for the Nocnitsa. His deteriorating condition drives the investigation and the dream-haunting plot.

    • 🧒 Vulnerable
    • 🕯️ Target
    • 🧠 Fragile
  • Amado (Sylvester McCoy)

    Amado is a former sleep expert living off the grid after a mental breakdown, now offering dangerous folklore-based insights. He explains the Nocnitsa’s history and how it feeds on fear, guiding Alice to confront the demon within dreams. His unconventional wisdom becomes crucial to the plan.

    • 🧠 Mentor
    • 🪄 Folklore
    • 🧭 Eccentric
  • Cam (Vincent Andriano)

    Cam is the clinic janitor who appears as a quiet link between the clinical world and Amado’s off-grid knowledge. He nudges Alice toward the elder’s guidance, recognizing the limits of conventional sleep medicine. He helps connect the dots that lead to facing the Nocnitsa.

    • 🧰 Connector
    • 🧭 Advisor
    • 🗝️ Mysterious

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 19:47

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Setting

Where and When Does Slumber Take Place?

The setting of Slumber (2017): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Contemporary

Set in the present-day medical landscape, the story centers on advanced sleep research and experimental techniques. It depicts overnight studies, EEG monitoring, and dream-sharing experiments as tools to confront a supernatural threat. The time period emphasizes current-day psychological and medical ethics as the characters grapple with trauma and fear.

Location

Whittingham Sleep Clinic, Morgan family home

The primary setting is the Whittingham Sleep Clinic, a modern medical facility that monitors parasomnias with overnight EEG studies. The clinic's sterile atmosphere sits alongside the Morgan family home, which becomes a chilling backdrop in the dream-realm. These spaces anchor the tension between science and folklore as sleep becomes the battleground against the Nocnitsa.

  • 🏥 Clinic
  • 🏠 Home

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 19:47

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4 major themes

Slumber Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is Slumber (2017) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Nightmare Sleep

    The film centers on the nightmare states induced by the Nocnitsa during REM sleep. The Nocnitsa invades Daniel's and Alice's dreams, creating hallucinations, paralysis, and a sense of impending doom. The sleep sessions become a battleground where science and folklore collide, revealing the fragility of the human mind.

  • Trauma & Guilt

    Dr. Alice Arnolds carries the trauma of her brother's mysterious death, which she blamed herself for. As the demon attaches to her childhood memories, she confronts guilt and the limits of scientific rationality. The theme explores how personal trauma can shape professional judgment and resilience.

  • Paranormal Influence

    The Nocnitsa invades dreams and waking moments, possessing bodies and feeding on fear. Its reach extends through shared trauma, turning sleep into a conduit for danger. The film blends folklore with psychological horror to probe the limits of perception and control.

  • Family Strain

    The Morgan family is pulled apart by night-time disturbances—the father’s violent episodes, the mother’s worry, and Daniel’s deteriorating condition. Emily and Daniel become witnesses and victims to the intrusion of a malevolent force. The family’s cohesion is tested as they navigate fear, trust, and care under pressure.

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 19:47

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Character & theme questions

Slumber Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about Slumber (2017): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where does Slumber take place?

Slumber is set primarily at the Whittingham Sleep Clinic, a modern medical facility that conducts overnight EEG studies on patients with parasomnias. The story also unfolds at the Morgan family home, which becomes increasingly haunted as the Nocnitsa's influence grows. These two settings represent the clash between scientific rationality and supernatural horror.

  • whittingham sleep clinic
  • morgan family home
  • setting
  • locations
Q2

What time period is Slumber set in?

Slumber takes place in contemporary, present-day times. The story is anchored in modern sleep research and experimental techniques, featuring overnight studies, EEG monitoring, and clinical sleep medicine. The setting reflects current-day psychological and medical ethics as characters confront both scientific and supernatural threats.

  • contemporary
  • present day
  • time period
  • modern
Q3

What is the Nocnitsa in Slumber?

The Nocitsa, also called the Night Hag, is a sinister paranormal entity that invades dreams and feeds on fear. It manifests during REM sleep, inducing nightmares, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. The demon can possess bodies and extends its reach through shared trauma, turning sleep into a dangerous conduit.

  • nocnitsa
  • night hag
  • demon
  • dream entity
  • folklore
Q4

Who is Alice Arnolds in Slumber?

Dr. Alice Arnolds is a respected sleep therapist and neurologist at the Whittingham Sleep Clinic. She carries deep personal trauma from her brother's mysterious death, which she blames herself for. Her clinical rationality masks emotional vulnerability, and while skeptical of the supernatural, she must confront her guilt and fear to face the Nocnitsa.

  • alice arnolds
  • sleep therapist
  • neurologist
  • protagonist
  • maggie q
Q5

Who are the Morgan family in Slumber?

The Morgan family consists of Charlie Morgan (the father), Sarah Morgan (the mother), Emily Morgan (the teenage daughter), and Daniel Morgan (the young son). Daniel is the primary victim of the Nocnitsa's attacks, experiencing severe sleep disturbances. The family becomes increasingly fractured as night-time disturbances intensify and Charlie's behavior turns violent.

  • morgan family
  • charlie morgan
  • sarah morgan
  • emily morgan
  • daniel morgan
Q6

What is the nightmare sleep theme in Slumber about?

The Nightmare Sleep theme centers on the Nocnitsa's invasion of dreams during REM sleep. The entity creates hallucinations, paralysis, and impending doom for its victims. Sleep sessions become a literal battleground where science and folklore collide, revealing the fragility of the human mind against supernatural forces.

  • nightmare
  • rem sleep
  • dreams
  • parasomnia
  • sleep disturbances
Q7

How does trauma and guilt factor into Slumber?

Alice carries the trauma of her brother's mysterious death, which she blames herself for. This personal trauma shapes her professional judgment and emotional resilience throughout the film. As the demon attaches to her childhood memories, she must confront her guilt and face the limits of scientific rationality to overcome the Nocnitsa.

  • trauma
  • guilt
  • brother
  • childhood
  • emotional burden
Q8

How does the Morgan family change in Slumber?

The Morgan family is gradually torn apart by the Nocnitsa's supernatural invasion. Charlie becomes violent and withdrawn, Sarah bears the burden of protecting her family while fearing for her sanity, and Daniel deteriorates as the demon feeds on him. Emily witnesses the creeping horror, becoming both victim and observer of the family's collapse under supernatural strain.

  • family breakdown
  • father violence
  • mother stress
  • family unity
  • deterioration
Q9

Who is Amado in Slumber?

Amado is a former sleep expert who lives off the grid after experiencing a mental breakdown. He possesses dangerous folklore-based knowledge about the Nocnitsa and explains how the demon feeds on fear. Though unconventional, his wisdom becomes crucial to Alice's plan of confronting the demon within the dream realm.

  • amado
  • folklore expert
  • former sleep specialist
  • off grid
  • mental breakdown
Q10

How does Slumber blend science and folklore?

Slumber juxtaposes clinical sleep research with ancient folklore about the Nocnitsa. The Whittingham Sleep Clinic represents scientific methods, EEG monitoring, overnight studies, experimental dream-sharing techniques, while Amado provides the folklore-based understanding of the demon. The film explores whether modern science can confront supernatural threats rooted in ancient mythology.

  • science vs folklore
  • clinical research
  • eeg
  • folklore
  • sleep medicine

Movie threads

More Movies Like Slumber, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Slumber tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Traumatic Horror Investigations like Slumber

Characters confront supernatural threats that force them to face their own buried grief. Movies like Slumber where a supernatural investigation forces characters to grapple with personal trauma. If you liked how Slumber connects the Night Hag to Alice's past, you'll find similar stories here where horror is deeply intertwined with grief, guilt, and psychological healing.

  • psychological
  • unsettling
  • grief-stricken
  • investigative
  • haunting
  • traumatic
  • Tone: dark, psychological, heavy
  • Pacing: steady, investigative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories follow a protagonist, often a skeptic or expert, who investigates a haunting or entity. As they gather evidence and seek a logical explanation, the mystery unravels to reveal a direct connection to their own traumatic history, forcing a climactic confrontation that is as much about emotional resolution as it is about surviving the supernatural threat.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their dual-layered conflict: a tangible supernatural menace and an intangible psychological one. They share a dark, heavy tone where the horror is amplified by the emotional weight of the characters' pasts, creating a deeply personal and unsettling experience.

Sleep Paralysis Horror Movies like Slumber

Stories where the terror of being trapped between sleep and wakefulness becomes real. If you were terrified by the Night Hag in Slumber, explore similar movies about sleep paralysis and dream demons. These films capture the unique horror of being attacked in your sleep, where the bedroom is no longer a safe haven but a cage for your worst nightmares.

  • claustrophobic
  • anxious
  • paranoid
  • disturbing
  • dreamlike
  • ominous
  • Tone: anxious, dark, ominous
  • Pacing: steady, escalating
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative revolves around a character or family plagued by terrifying occurrences during sleep. The horror escalates as these dream-world intrusions begin to have real-world consequences, forcing the characters to find a way to fight back against an enemy that operates in a realm where normal rules don't apply.

Why they belong together: These movies are united by their core concept: horror that originates from the vulnerable state of sleep. They share a specific, unsettling vibe built on anxiety, claustrophobia, and the violation of the one place you should feel safe, leading to a steady build of pervasive dread.

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Movies Like Slumber

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Every angle

Slumber (2017) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Slumber in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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