An orphaned child's dreams—and nightmares—manifest physically as he sleeps.
Acting
Jacob Tremblay carries impossible weight at age nine
Direction
Flanagan turns domestic spaces into emotional minefields
Visual Effects
Nightmare creatures that look beautiful until they don't
Director
Mike Flanagan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Originally titled 'Somnia' and shelved for two years due to Relativity Media's bankruptcy before Netflix rescued it.
The Canker Man's design deliberately evokes a child's distorted memory of parental loss—Flanagan based it on how kids process absence as physical hunger.
US
