''I Can't Sleep'' () is a

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...

. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

1994 Cannes Film Festival The 47th Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 1994. American filmmaker and actor Clint Eastwood served as jury president for the main competition. French actress Jeanne Moreau hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. American fil ...

. The film was loosely inspired by the murders committed by Thierry Paulin.

Plot

Daiga ( Yekaterina Golubeva), a woman from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, immigrates to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with little money but hopes to secure herself a job as an actor. When her plans fall through, she begins work as a maid in the hotel of a friend of her great-aunt. At the same time Theo (

Alex Descas Alex Descas (born January 1, 1958) is a French actor known for his roles in films by Claire Denis and Jim Jarmusch. In France he is also known for his role as Schneider in the French TV series ''Un Flic''. He is a frequent collaborator of Claire ...

) is embroiled in a fight with his wife, as he wants to leave for

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

with their young son while she wants to remain in

. He is infrequently visited by his brother, Camille. Meanwhile, the city is on edge because of a series of violent murders that have targeted elderly women living alone. The murders are being committed by Camille and his lover. The two live in the hotel run by Daiga's employer. Eventually Daiga begins to follow Camille around. She figures out that he is the murderer after spotting a police sketch of his face. After breaking into his room, she finds a bag of cash and steals it, leaving abruptly to go back to Lithuania. Camille is spotted by police after one of his victims recovers enough to give a description of him. Theo is brought to the police station for questioning but insists that, far from having anything to do with the murders, he remained unaware of what his brother was doing the entire time.

Cast

* Yekaterina Golubeva as Daiga * Richard Courcet as Camille * Vincent Dupont as Raphael * Laurent Grévill as The doctor *

as Theo * Irina Grjebina as Mina * Tolsty as Vasily * Line Renaud as Ninon * Béatrice Dalle as Mona * Sophie Simon as Alice *

Patrick Grandperret Patrick Grandperret (24 October 1946 – 9 March 2019) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer.

as Abel * Didier Flamand as The Detective

Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics, garnering a 75% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

References

External links
* 1994 films 1994 drama films 1990s French-language films French independent films Films directed by Claire Denis Transgender-related films Films set in Paris French drama films 1990s French films {{1990s-crime-drama-film-stub