Yellow Veil Pictures has announced the highly anticipated release of Somnium, the genre-blending horror sci-fi debut from filmmaker Racheal Cain. Following its award-winning festival run, the indie feature will hit select theaters beginning August 28, with a digital release across major platforms like Apple TV, Prime Video, and Fandango at Home on September 9.
Somnium first captured audiences at the 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival, where it won the coveted Audience Award. It continued its momentum with a Silver Audience Award Prize at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and lead actress Chloë Levine took home Best Actress at FilmQuest.
Levine (The OA, The Sacrifice Game) leads a chilling ensemble cast including Peter Vack (Mozart in the Jungle), Will Peltz (Unfriended), Johnathon Schaech (Suitable Flesh), and Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things). In the film, Levine plays Gemma, a small-town woman who moves to Los Angeles after a painful breakup, chasing stardom and escape. To make ends meet, she lands a graveyard shift job at Somnium, an experimental sleep clinic where dreams take a disturbingly real turn. As she juggles auditions and ambition, Gemma begins to unravel, haunted by visions and a creeping darkness within the clinic’s walls.
The journey to Somnium’s release is as unique as its premise. Cain began writing the script in 2011 and launched a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2018. Production unfolded in two parts: the film’s flashback sequences were shot in 2018, with the main storyline filmed years later between 2021 and 2022.
Cain reflected on the film’s long path to completion: “I couldn’t have dreamt Somnium would end up in theaters just a few miles from where I started writing it all those years ago. This film has clawed its way into existence over the last decade, and I can only hope viewers find it was worth the wait.”
Somnium opens theatrically in Los Angeles on August 29, with a New York City run beginning September 6. Digital availability begins September 9 across North America.
With its dreamlike horror, standout performances, and years-in-the-making journey, Somnium is poised to be one of the most talked-about indie releases of the fall.
