Shivangi Sinha
Lifetime’s ‘While She Was Sleeping’ tells the story of Alyssa, who finds herself in a confounding situation without fully understanding how she got there. Diagnosed with sleepwalking, she wakes up one day to find herself standing over the remains of her best friend with a knife in her hand. She immediately becomes the prime suspect in the murder, but Alyssa believes she is being wrongfully accused. Knowing that she may be the only person capable of proving her innocence, she sets out on a mission to uncover the truth and clear her name. Directed by XYZ, the film follows a woman’s fight against a system that seems determined to condemn her, leaving her with little to rely on beyond her own determination. It explores themes of having to prove one’s innocence when circumstances appear to be stacked against them.
While She Was Sleeping Seems to be Inspired by Real Criminal Defense Using Sleepwalking
Lifetime’s ‘While She Was Sleeping’ is not based on a true story, but its underlying themes connect with real-world circumstances. Sleepwalking is a recognized phenomenon that has featured as a defense in criminal cases across the US, raising complex questions about the law. While the film heightens the circumstances surrounding Alyssa’s predicament and uses dramatic elements to build suspense, its premise draws on a genuine medical phenomenon and the uncertainties it can create. Through its fictional narrative, the thriller explores how easily appearances can shape perceptions of guilt and how difficult it can be to prove one’s innocence when the evidence appears damning.
Sleepwalking, medically known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder in which a person performs actions while partially asleep, without full awareness or conscious control. In ‘While She Was Sleeping,’ the protagonist fears she may have committed a crime during such an episode, a premise that echoes real-life cases like that of Scott Falater. In January 1997, Falater’s wife, Yarmila, was stabbed 44 times and drowned in their backyard pool. He claimed he had no memory of the killing and argued that he had been sleepwalking. Sleep experts testified for the defense, but prosecutors challenged this explanation. In 1999, a jury convicted Falater of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2000.
The Movie Brings Focus to the Criminal Justice System and Its Issues
There is another side to the issue, as claims of sleepwalking have also resulted in acquittals in serious criminal cases. One example is Kenneth Parks, whose case became a landmark ruling on the defense of automatism in Canada. In the early hours of May 24, 1987, Parks drove to his in-laws’ home in Scarborough, Ontario, and attacked them with a tire iron, killing his mother-in-law and attempting to choke his father-in-law. He then drove to a nearby police station and confessed. At trial, medical experts testified that Parks had been sleepwalking during the attack. The jury acquitted him, and in 1992, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the acquittal, finding that the evidence raised reasonable doubt about whether his actions were voluntary.
Although ‘While She Was Sleeping’ is not based on a true story, its premise draws on a real phenomenon that has raised complex questions about memory, consciousness and criminal responsibility. The cases of Scott Falater and Kenneth Parks illustrate how sleepwalking can become central to investigations and courtroom battles, with vastly different outcomes. By placing its protagonist in the unsettling position of questioning her own actions, the film turns a medical condition into a mystery about guilt and trust. Its story may be fictional, but the uncertainty at its heart has real-world parallels.
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