DEEP

Sleep, one of the most wanted yet, the hardest to get in human life. Sleep helps us to boost our energy, and keep fresh for the upcoming events. But have you sold this precious thing for money?, maybe or of course you have sold it off to pay your work load, however it can’t be given for money. Although in regard to today’s present, Money can be used acquire even the life of a man. Finally concluding that Money can take to depths that no one would ever lead to.

DEEP, a 2021 Thai- film distributed by Netflix that gives the message and importance of sleep. The movie opens with a Medical student standing on a balcony top of a building , trying to suicide by falling off. Gathered up, several students try to stop him, Unfortunately the young man jumps off as police and other missionaries arrive. Fast forward to a day in the present, Professor Nichcha teaches her students regarding the vitality of sleep, She emphasizes how people go astray without 3 days of proper sleep exampling how she saw a hallucination of the lab rabbit speaking to her during her restless days. Soon we are shown the main character, Jane a medical student from the same class Nichcha teaches. Jane is an insomniac due to her tension in life, having experienced her parent’s murder, she and her sister June are both moved into living with their Grandma who has a heart disease. Jane’s thinks that by working all 24-hours not even one second is wasted. Therefore her tight schedule which starts with her going to college, returning home studying till 2:AM and then preparing food for the Family Restaurant they own. However soon she gets a letter regarding her grandma’s Mortgage, which indeed requires a greater amount of money. Sandwiched within choices, she chooses to drop off her education. Meeting with Professor Nichcha, she talks about dropping off. Knowing that Jane is a bright and talented student, Nichcha suggests her to join a insomniac research held by a German Pharmaceutical company to solve her financial issue. Jane learns that the project is named “DEEP” through the card Nichcha gives her.

Without a delay Jane visits the company, where she is introduced to the project by video explains that the aim of the project is to extract Qratonin in three levels. Qratonin is a fictional brain chemical, which keeps humans awake and only can be harvested when the subject is awake, concluding that Jane will have to avoid sleep for several days. This particular substance can be used to treat brain dead patients. As the video comes to an end Jane is introduced to Dr. Hans Miller, the head scientist of the assignment. He talks with her how he wants to innovate the Pharmaceutical field with the uses of Qratonin. Miller explains that to juice out the chemical, the subject must be injected with a microchip in the backside of the neck. At first she becomes suspicious but grows out of it after the offer of large amount of money. Happily agreeing she comes to know the suspense of the project after her microchip is planted, If she sleeps more than 1 minute the chip with automatically induce a heart attack causing the subject to die. Jane is agitated by this fact, when Dr. Hans Miller places a watch on her wrist. He defines the watch is to monitor the Qratonin amount harvested and also as a beep meter to wake up if the subject falls asleep, he also mentions to visit the company when the watch reaches 100% . She signs a NDA with the company in order to confide the project from business partners and outsiders.

Jane goes home, does her daily night routine, but experiences as if time moves slow. Being bored and sleepy she goes to check her grandma. While she is checking on her grandma, they here a car stops, only to find out her sister June getting a lift from a stranger. Jane gets angry and confronts her sister, creating a fight among the two, which results with Jane breaking June’s mobile phone. Frustrated June shouts and leaves her sister. The day ends and Another days begins, We find Jane sitting alone in the school’s cafeteria when one of her colleague’s, Win approach her. As soon as she see’s him she hides her DEEP watch. Laughing Win educate Jane how other students are also a part of the scheme. Win is a party goer therefore making him enroll into DEEP. As their conversation proceeds they are joined by two other students Cin and Peach. Cin is a Instagram beauty Blogger, whereas Peach is an online gamer, who has a crush on Cin. Even though having different aspects they soon get fit with each other. As their watches become 100% full of Qratonin, they decide to go and remove the chips together. After they remove the chips, Dr.Miller presents them with their money. Having gotten their money, Jane pays off an amount of the debt and buys June a new phone, While Cin goes to have a beauty remake, Win brings in a new aquarium and a watch. Lastly Peach Upgrades his Game Room.

With the ending of DEEP’s First Level they meet with each other at a blowing alley, where Cin confides in the other three that she has a stalker since the start of DEEP, J. She suspects it to be someone from the faculty. At the Blowing Alley they debate whether to continue on Level Two, Cin, Peach, Win and Jane all agree because they need money and create a group in social media named “Non-Non”. “Non” in french means “No” while “Non” in Thai means “Sleep”. The four friends depart with Jane leaving early because of her grandmother.

As they enter their homes, we can see a bit of traumatic scenes within. Win is angered by his father throwing his dead mother’s stuff, whereas Jane is interrogated by her sister regarding the money she used to buy the phone for her. At the same time we can see that Cin is pushed by her parents to do Medicine although she likes Communication. Cin is really stressed out by this fact which is why she decided to go for DEEP. Win argues with his father for forgetting his late mother, the father replies that she’s gone long ago.

Soon the next day dawn’s, The four goes to the faculty. Once again, Dr. Miller explains the procedure for Level 2 that requires more sleepless nights. At first the students become reluctant but proceeds when offered a large sum of money. They get the chip planted and continues their daily work.

However, soon enough they start experiencing disturbances. It starts with Peach who falls asleep for few seconds when the watch starts beeping, Win gets hallucinations of corridor halls, during a basketball match he sees his dead mother killing herself with a gun, there too he hallucinates that a team member talking “No wonder his mother killed herself” to which Win responds by punching him only to be stopped by others. Similarly Jane and Cin both experience auditory wise hallucinations. Sleepy, the four students talk together at lunch. At Lunch Jane notices that Win is 10 percent higher in the level of Qratonin extracted. She draws the conclusion that it is because he exercises. They decide to hold a party at Peach’s house. At the party they enjoy a lot of drinks, foods and has fun. Soon Win comes up with the idea to make drinks with stimulant pills, primarily Jane goes off the idea at first as the pills may contain substances that create stroke, but agrees when Win mentions that suffering a stroke rather that sleeping and dying is better.

After the intake of the drinks they start dancing, under the influence of the drugs Jane kisses Win. Eventually, Cin visits Peach’s room to find out that he was her stalker. Shocked she passes out, with the help of Jane she is brought back alive at the last minute. With a near death experience the four students return their watches including the chips full of Qratonin. They decide not to step again in the company’s building.

With the days passing by, they have their lost sleep fulfilled. At School Cin is confronted by Peach, who apologizes for stalking her, Cin doesn’t take it easy on him, threatening to call the Security. Win approaches Jane, asking her to go for a Ed Sheeran. Jane coldly refuses saying that she isn’t interested in any, hinting Himself as well. Jane experiences a death of a student wearing the DEEP watch, which indeed alerts her about the dangerous side of the project. That night she checks on her grandmother. Jane finds her grandmother unconscious on the floor, using her medical knowledge she deduces that Grandma has suffered a stroke, Jane rushes her quickly to the nearest hospital. Jane is pressured due to the amount of money her grandma needs, when June comes into the scene. Jane explains the problem to her sister, she places a brown bag on June’s hand. The brown bag has a DEEP logo on it. Jane furiously shouts at her sister for enrolling in the program. Being enough of the drama she storms out of the hospital. Later at night when she returns home, Jane finds the house empty. So she decides to visit the company. Surprised, she finds Dr. Hans inserting a chip into June’s nape.

She confronts the Doctor regarding the dark side of the project and tries calling the police if he doesn’t remove June’s chip. Dr. Miller blackmails her saying she has signed a NDA. But gives a opinion to bring back her four friends into the experiment for level three in order to extract June’s Chip.

The Next day Non-Non gather alongside June, Jane explains what the doctor wanted in behalf of June’s Chip. Cin refuses immediately, replying that four lives for one life is a bad bet. Peach refuses as well and both leaves the conversation soon. Willingly Win stays behind the sisters, telling them that he won’t leave them alone.

As hours go by, Cin goes back to her memory lane seeing how happy she was with the others. In the same manner, Peach also feels remorse about how he acted in the day.

On the next day, Win, June and Jane arrive at the company only to be greeted by Cin plus Peach who apologize about their behaviour the day prior. The group participates in the third level. Professor Nichcha provides them her father’s lab to help them during the experiment. Nichcha injects them a drug that keeps them awake. Things move on slowly within the first few days, but quickly go descending when Cin experiences hallucination of 100 pimples on her face and creates chaos. Which ends up with Win and Peach getting into a terrible physical fight. Frightened, Jane rushes to the principal’s office, here she finds CCTV camera’s watching all their actions. With undefined consciousness, she goes through several documents. In one of the documents she finds a recruiting document of a actor exactly like Dr. Hans Miller. Gradually the pieces fall into one place, All along Professor Nichcha Was the mastermind of the game. Jane rushes back to inform the others, but is attacked by the Professor. When Jane returns, they have no choice because the lab is out of signal as well as Nichcha locks them in.

Later we can see that Win falls down unconscious. The rest of the gang tries to regain him, with his watch beeping alerting them about Win’s life. They try their very best, only to go in vain. As Win dies, Nichcha receives a notification. She heads to the lab and brings out Win, but Win gets up and hits her on the head. Win has previously been injected with CCL, a substance that can cause immediate heart stroke for a few seconds. Hence the students were able to trick Nichcha. After an awkward meeting it is revealed that the man falling in the opening of film is Nichcha’s boyfriend who experimented with sleep deprivation, whose brain has been dead, but Nichcha used the harvesting of Qratonin to take him back. She asks and apologizes them, telling them she never meant to harm the children. But a Villain is always a Villain, She stabs Jane, with a chemical by which she faints. The team struggle with Cin and Peach struggle to pull Professor onto the ground, while Win and June give CPR to Jane. Eventually they are able to capture Nichcha and present her to custody, plus take Jane back.

Maybe Non-Non never got the money for Level 3, but they learned a better and suitable lesson for a life time. That “it’s better to sleep like a rock, rather than wake up and never see the sun again.”

The film is officially directed by a set of Thai University students, who try to give the whole importance of sleep. It also shows the way greediness can travel forth beyond our lives. It maybe fictional but, never loses the opportunity to shade off the message of Money is Evil. Sometimes it these kind of projects may occur in the near future or else it maybe ongoing. However it’s our own choice of Life and Money.