Yellow Veil Pictures has unveiled the release plan for Somnium, the debut feature from writer-director Racheal Cain. The award-winning horror sci-fi opens theatrically in Los Angeles on August 29, followed by New York City on September 6, before arriving on major digital platforms September 9.
The film first turned heads at the 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, later claiming the Silver Audience Award Prize at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. Lead actress Chloë Levine also earned Best Actress at FilmQuest, cementing the film’s reputation as one of the year’s most exciting indie debuts.
Cain began writing Somnium back in 2011. After a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2018, the project gathered momentum, with production split into two phases—flashback scenes shot in 2018, and present-day sequences completed between 2021 and 2022. The years-long journey makes the film’s theatrical release especially poignant. “This film has clawed its way into existence over the last decade,” Cain shared. “I can only hope viewers find it was worth the wait.”
The cast is led by Chloë Levine (The Sacrifice Game, The OA), joined by Peter Vack (Mozart in the Jungle), Will Peltz(Unfriended), Johnathon Schaech (Suitable Flesh), and Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things).
Somnium follows Gemma, a young woman who moves to Los Angeles after a painful breakup, hoping to make her mark in Hollywood. To stay afloat, she takes a job at Somnium, an experimental sleep clinic that promises to make dreams tangible. But as Gemma balances grueling auditions with long overnight shifts, reality begins to fracture. Unsettling visions mount, and she soon discovers that within the clinic’s walls lies a darkness more terrifying than any nightmare.
With its blend of psychological dread, science fiction intrigue, and Cain’s decade-long persistence, Somnium promises to be a haunting addition to the genre. Horror fans in LA and NYC will get the first chance to step into Cain’s dreamscape before it invades living rooms nationwide this September.
