Some Things Won’t Sleep

Anika and her husband have the perfect marriage. Or so it seems.

But flashes from a gruesome future scene seem to hint that something is about to go terribly awry. When a secret is revealed and the marriage begins to fall apart, Anika attempts to do the most horrific thing possible to salvage her relationship. Unfortunately, some secrets won’t stay buried for very long …

Creative team

Writer/director: Leah Johnston
Producer: André Pettigrew

Filmmaker’s statement

In Some Things Won’t Sleep, I wanted to explore the concept of denial on our inner psyche.

I tried to create a film that is psychological in nature, exploring the theme of denial through the lens of a single character, Anika.

As Anika tries to bury painful memories from her past, she becomes haunted by an unseen spirit that will eventually force her to face herself, and the truth about her life.

The film doesn’t offer any real solution to this dissonance. My hope is that it will leave viewers with something to chew on, and perhaps consider in parallel with their own experiences.

About Leah Johnston

Leah Johnston is a filmmaker, photographer and actress hailing from Nova Scotia, Canada.

She has written and directed four award-winning short films which have received broad screenings at film festivals across North America.

Her professional filmmaking debut, Some Things Won’t Sleep (created through NSI Drama Prize), premiered at Montreal World Film Festival, and took home an award for best horror at the Silver Wave Film Festival, as well as nominations for best emerging filmmaker (Yorkton Golden Sheaf awards), best actress (ACTRA Maritimes awards) and best short film (Screen Nova Scotia awards).

Her 2015 short, My Younger Older Sister (which she also stars in), was nominated for best Canadian short (Silver Wave Film Festival), best actress at the ACTRA Maritime awards, and won a platinum Remi award at Worldfest Houston. It will be broadcast as a part of CBC’s Reel East Coast Showcase later this summer.

Her most recent film, Ingrid & The Black Hole, won the first-ever 35k Women in Film and Television pitch prize and was chosen to screen in Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent program at Cannes Film Festival in May 2016.

Leah holds a BFA in drama from New York University and is an alumni of the NSI Drama Prize program.