Insomnia
Réalisé par Christopher NolanWill Dormer, un policier expérimenté et désabusé, est envoyé en Alaska pour enquêter sur le meurtre sordide d'une adolescente. Lui et ses hommes montent une embuscade et repèrent le tueur, mais celui-ci parvient à s'enfuir. Will le prend en chasse mais le perd de vue dans l'opaque brouillard. Il voit une ombre qui pointe une arme à feu et tire. Lorsqu'il s'approche du corps, il découvre qu'il vient de tuer Hap, son partenaire. Instinctivement, il prend le pistolet qu'a auparavant laissé tomber le tueur dans sa fuite et le place près de Hap pour dissimuler sa culpabilité. Walter Finch, le meurtrier, a vu faire Will. Il le menace de le dénoncer s'il ne ferme pas rapidement le dossier en accusant l'ancien petit ami de la victime d'être responsable des deux meurtres. Will ne peut laisser Walter s'en tirer aussi facilement. Cependant, l'absence de sommeil l'empêche d'avoir les idées claires.
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Insomnia Notations et commentaires
- Dan Chapman-6 jOften overlooked in Christopher Nolan’s filmography (including by me, until now), Insomnia remains a taut, intelligent, and deeply atmospheric psychological thriller—one that rewards revisiting with a more mature lens. Released in the wake of Memento, I initially dismissed it for its straightforwardness. There are no fractured timelines, no dreams within dreams, no folding cities or collapsing black holes. And yet, Insomnia may quietly be one of Nolan’s most accomplished works—precisely because of its restraint. Based on Erik Skjoldbjærg’s 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, Nolan’s adaptation transplants the action to Nightmute, Alaska, where the sun never sets and guilt has nowhere to hide. This backdrop becomes more than just setting; it’s metaphor made physical. As Al Pacino’s Will Dormer descends into insomnia—haunted by an internal darkness he can’t outrun—the persistent daylight becomes oppressive, a blinding reflection of the truth he’s trying to bury. The irony of Dormer’s name (“dormir” meaning “to sleep” in French and Spanish) underlines the central conceit: this is a man running from sleep because he’s running from self-reckoning. Pacino delivers one of the most quietly powerful performances of his later career here—far removed from his infamous scenery-chewing excesses. Dormer is a man at the edge of psychological collapse, and Pacino plays him as perpetually fraying at the seams: paranoid, exhausted, angry, but never cartoonishly so. There’s a deep sadness in the performance, and a growing sense of futility, as Dormer begins to realise he may not be the good man he thinks he is—or, more precisely, that his good deeds no longer outweigh his compromises. This is not a good-versus-evil story. Nolan, even this early in his career, is far more interested in moral ambiguity than heroism. Hilary Swank’s Ellie Burr is the idealistic counterweight to Dormer’s compromised veteran. She admires him, quotes his cases back to him, believes in his myth—but gradually comes to see the human underneath, the weary and fallible man who has spent too long justifying the means. Enter Robin Williams as Walter Finch. In a chilling reversal of his usual persona, Williams is unsettling precisely because he’s so ordinary. There’s no maniacal villainy here—just a quiet, needy presence who floats at the edge of Dormer’s exhausted psyche. Finch is both antagonist and analogue: a reflection of what Dormer fears he’s becoming. When Finch calmly discusses their mutual crimes—as if they’re just two men caught in difficult circumstances—it’s as if Dormer is being invited to rationalise his moral failures. Finch is a test, a mirror, and a threat, all in one. Williams plays him with a controlled stillness that’s far more unnerving than any outburst could be. At the heart of Insomnia is the age-old ethical dilemma: do the ends justify the means? Dormer’s entire career seems to rest on that equation. If bending the rules puts away killers, does that make it right? But when his methods come under scrutiny—coinciding with his own accidental killing of his partner—it becomes clear that self-preservation is part of the equation too. Nolan doesn’t answer the question. Instead, he lets Dormer ask it again and again—until finally, he’s too tired to run from the truth. Dormer’s refusal to let Burr throw away her integrity in the closing moments is quietly devastating. It’s the one thing he can salvage. His final moment of sleep, after resisting it for the entire film, is not just physical but spiritual. He finds rest only when he stops running. On paper, Insomnia lacks the high-concept architecture of Nolan’s later works. But the themes are pure Nolan: duality, moral compromise, unreliable perception, identity under pressure. The setting may be remote, but it’s as existentially foggy as Inception’s dreamscapes or The Prestige’s layered personas. And yet, it’s also his most human film. There are no grand twists or interstellar metaphors—just a man trying to live with what he’s done. Nolan's trademark visual control is already evident here, from the hazy, washed-out cinematography (courtesy of Wally Pfister) to the fragmented editing that mirrors Dormer's disorientation. The film's psychological texture is enhanced by a sound design that emphasises subtle disruptions: footsteps in water, the buzz of a fly, the echo of a gunshot. It’s immersive and immersive because it's simple. Insomnia may not be the most showy entry in Nolan’s catalogue, but it might be his most emotionally mature. It’s a film about compromise, not glory; about conscience, not conflict. That it does this within the framework of a gripping, perfectly paced thriller is no small feat. And that Nolan—just two films into his career—had the confidence to explore these themes with such subtlety speaks volumes. It's a deeply thoughtful and tightly constructed psychological thriller that shows Christopher Nolan at his most quietly assured. Anchored by a career-highlight performance from Pacino and a haunting turn from Williams, Insomnia is a film about what happens when you can no longer sleep through the things you've done. It deserves far more credit than it gets.
- DonkeyFlix1 janvier 2026Great exploration of themes and atmosphere, but too often things just magically happen to keep the plot on track, making it feel like it peaks too soon. Fun fact: Robin Williams had three films come out in 2002 and in all three he was the antagonist.
- ርልዪረ11 février 2025Did I ever know what insomnia is? Sure it's not being able to sleep, but what does it do to you?? I think I know now, as I can feel myself addressing it right here, I've been up for nearly 17 hours. But at least I can sleep, this guy can go 5 days without a blink. The film seems to say something about small town mentalities and what it's like living in one. I'm from one and I recognize certain aspects of human behaviours and attitiudes. Al Pacino's character holds it together as best he can - the interesting fact being that he has had to cut corners throughout his career and they are catching up with him more than he will catch up with sleep. He is tormented by this and makes another serious mistake. That scene is in the fog - again, great attention to detail as I was driving in the fog a couple of nights ago (naturally). He is trying to catch a child killer in the form of Mrs Doubt..No, that's Robin Williams of course, he's taking on a serious role and you do wish he'd taken on more since, cos it shows you another side to him and it's good. Williams torments Pacino throughout and you get the impression that Pacino is fighting the tide of opinion, in a town happy to settle for any result. Overall this is a good man fading away, tormented by his demons and the past. It is gripping and it really feels like this manhunt is taking place in the wild west, except this is Alaska, a place where it's always light... This film had a profound effect on me, especially when you consider we've had the Batman trilogy off this director since. It's moody and the eternal appeal for me is that it is the portrayal of a man trying to keep his head above water whilst doing the very important job of catching someone dangerous. It shows you what life is like in moments of personal turmoil and gives you a real insight into what survival means at that point. Moving.
- tellum17 août 2025Very underrated performance for Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank. Top tier crime thriller.
- Vincent Reggiannini5 juillet 2025This is one of Christopher Nolan’s lesser known films, yet it brings with it a haunting surrealism and very subdued performances by both Al Pacino and Robin Williams. The movie is like a bad dream, which is appropriate because the main character is suffering from a lack of sleep. Compounding the issues of what might be a guilty conscience, and a ruthless Internal Affairs process is the fact that this movie takes place in a town where the sun never sets during its summer months. Like most of Nolans films time here doesn’t seem to be an issue - it’s like a long, slowly drawn out nightmare as Al Pacino’s character dances between what might be reality, and what might be hallucinations. Robin Williams is intellectually frightening as a man who writes detective novels so well that he knows the police and what they look for, and muddled in this serious interaction between Williams and the police is Pacino’s crushing guilty conscience. The pressure slowly mounts as the world around both men close in around them. They are both running in their dreams but neither getting away from, or getting closer to a resolution to this small town’s first major homicide. The music is eerie, the landscape is achingly beautiful and Nolan masterfully crafts an environment that is both looming and overwhelming as these two men match whits and test each others’ limits. How far will either of them go to win this battle? What will suffer as a result? If you are a fan of either Hillary Swank, Al Pacino, Robin Williams or Christopher Nolan you owe it to yourself to watch this.
- Patrick D.25 juin 2025Definitely not Nolan's best, but even his worst movie is better than most magnum opus movies from a lot of other directors. It's a good detective movie that's worth your time.
- marshalsea23 juin 2025A film where Pacino actually acts. Must have been cause he was up against Robin Williams. All the right ingredients are here, but doesn't quite tap in to 5th star. Solid 80%er.
- mhantzea31 janvier 2025I felt the acting and plot was forced
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Insomnia Trivia
Insomnia was released on May 24, 2002.
Insomnia was directed by Christopher Nolan.
Insomnia has a runtime of 1 hr 58 min.
Insomnia was produced by Andrew A. Kosove, Edward McDonnell, Broderick Johnson, Paul Junger Witt.
The key characters in Insomnia are Will Dormer (Al Pacino), Walter Finch (Robin Williams), Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank).
Insomnia is rated R.
Insomnia is a Crime, Mystery, Thriller film.
Insomnia has an audience rating of 7.7 out of 10.