In the Alaskan town of Nightmute, two detectives, Will Dormer and Hap Eckert, are looking for the dead body of a 17-year-old girl, named Kay Connell. They arrive, and a friendly woman, Ellie Burr, picks them up from a helicopter. She then takes them to where Kay’s corpse is. That is a special lab. 

The scientists examine her to find out how she died. They also go to her house and into her room to look for clues. They discover that her boyfriend, Randy, might have been involved.

Will and his coworker, Walter Finch, go to the high school Randy attends. They try to talk to him about the murder. But he just gets angry and demands that they stop.

As the investigation continues, Eckert gets wounded and looks like he is going to die. Will shot him, but by accident.

Guilty, Will is up all night, thinking about shooting Eckert. He knows that no one will believe him when he says that he didn’t mean to shoot him. He also doesn’t mention what kind of pistol he used.

To make matters worse, Will gets calls from anonymous voices about the accidental shot. He continues to experience insomnia.

One aspect that stands out to me is the casting choices. Robin Williams is one of them. He plays Walter Finch, who is a major character. And he is a very serious one. It felt a bit strange (but not in a bad way) to see Robin Williams play a character who’s not funny at all, and in a serious thriller. I am used to him playing funny characters in comedies, such as Mrs. Doubtfire.

There is one scene where he says something that is barely funny to me. That is when he tells Randy not to smoke in school.

Which brings me to a flaw–the characters in this movie are not the most interesting. For the most part, they are too calm and quiet. That kept the tension levels too low.

But there is a scene where a few characters actually yell. That is when Will accuses this girl, who knew Kay, of being involved with her murder. The girl even breaks down into tears since she experiences guilt.

Another issue I had with this movie is that it was hard to follow. I understand that certain scenes shouldn’t have dialogue. But I felt that it kept me from understanding what was happening and why.

On the bright side, there is a character I really liked. That was Ellie, who did everything she could to help Will and his fellow detectives. She was kind and patient.

Otherwise, the movie just didn’t do it for me. It did get great reviews, though. So, you might end up liking it, regardless of my review. 

Note that although this movie is kind of mild, it does have some bloody scenes and a lot of swearing (it is rated R). But I think anyone 16 and over who loves thrillers and crime movies can handle that.

I give Insomnia 2.5 out of 5 stars.