REM

REM follows the story of a troubled teenager named Leah, struggling to cope with the grief and anxiety of her recently deceased mother. Her days are filled with dark thoughts and an overwhelming sense of loneliness that she cannot escape. Her only comfort lies in the stories of the shadow demon known as Hatman, a figment of her imagination. According to the tales, Hatman roams the dreams of the innocent and the troubled alike, striking fear into the hearts of those who cross his path. Leah becomes increasingly fascinated with the idea of Hatman, convinced that his existence can be proven. She throws herself into the study of dreams, reading books and online forums, obsessed with the possibility of a tangible connection to the unknown. As her fixation deepens, her family and friends start to worry about her mental state. Her mother's passing has brought about a palpable sense of unease within Leah, and her investigation into Hatman becomes a conduit for this repressed emotion. Determined to bridge the gap between reality and the dream world, Leah embarks on an experiment of self-imposed sleep paralysis. Utilizing techniques honed from her research, she subjects herself to physiological and psychological manipulation in an effort to prolong the REM sleep state. Sleep paralysis is a state where the brain is unable to move, often linked to increased body temperature, weakened immune systems, and significant mental stress. It is this state that Leah counts on, convinced that Hatman is lurking within the shadows of her mind, watching her every move. As the story unwinds, Leah finds herself losing control. Her grip on reality is tested as she pushes herself into a world where nocturnal monsters roam free. In this boundless, surreal realm, Leah's perceptions blur, and reality's constants disappear. She befriends an eccentric few who claim to have experienced their own terrors; they help her decipher the keys to her subconscious, including subliminal signals that guide Hatman's movement. Recognizing that they are in this realm together, she requests their help in pinpointing Hatman, acknowledging the group as conduits to a power that has governed and watched her from the shrouded mysteries of the night. Her most feared adversary takes many forms within Leah's mind – a swirling humanoid figure with glowing, red eyes that follow her every move, Hatman continuously mutates as the nature of Leah's thoughts and psychological turmoil take shape. Ever in turmoil, they battle through a labyrinth of faces, dark and frightening: Leah and the symbolized Hatman are perpetually locked in combat. In a desolate stretch of her mind, her lost mother, and Hatman finally meet. At this poignant moment, Leah's fixation on proving Hatman's existence now raises uneasy implications for herself. In that pivotal scene, questions re-wove themselves, plunging Leah into turmoil where reality, reality's dark side and an unseen force struggle by ceaseless storms; although Hatman never truly takes control over Leah's conscious mind, their long and arduous conflict leaves her altered. Within her final steps, Leah discovers that by yielding to Hatman and embracing her subconscious dread, she reaches the peak of understanding. The moment brings a definitive change in Leah. At the dawn of this awareness, Leah is struck by a new idea that her world is larger than just her waking hours, casting vast, hazy reflections, rather. Realizing that life doesn't have to be bound to Hatman's demonic grasp, she feels free from the void, recognizing her hope as a new guiding light. In this acceptance, Leah becomes braver than before. She walks towards her parents' photo, feeling an inexplicable connection as the entire mystery in RE M now melts – Hatman, her world, the struggle.