Sleeper
A revived health-food clerk becomes an accidental rebel in a bizarre future where technology has replaced intimacy and authoritarianism rules by absurdity.
Overview
A cryogenically frozen man navigates a bizarre future filled with absurdities and radical politics.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Breakneck
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- witty
- anarchic
- surreal
- retro sci fi night
- classic comedy marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praise the film as a fast, sustained, and stylish fusion of madcap slapstick, futurist satire, and one-liner comedy.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Orgasmatron booths, confessional robots, and automated systems absurdly replace intimate and civic life.
Miles is revived two centuries after cryogenic freezing and must navigate radically transformed customs and institutions.
The film contrasts 1970s comic sensibilities with futuristic cities, machines, robots, and exaggerated technological environments.
Miles is recruited by radicals attempting to overthrow an oppressive government, while the film mocks tyranny through slapstick.
Films like Sleeper, and why
Bananas
shares rapid-fire screwball humor, science fiction satire, and an anxious protagonist confronting absurd social systems
Brazil
shares dystopian science fiction comedy, political absurdism, and irreverent resistance to authoritarian control
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
shares deadpan speculative humor, social satire, and eccentric protagonists navigating bizarre bureaucracies
Modern Times
shares physical slapstick, neurotic comic performance, and surreal technology-driven farce
Movie Details
- Director
- Woody Allen
- Release Date
- 1973-12-17
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (863)
Cast
- Woody Allen
- Diane Keaton
- John Beck
- Mary Gregory
- Brian Avery
- Don Keefer
- Mews Small
- Peter Hobbs
- Spencer Milligan
- John McLiam
Common questions
- What is Sleeper about?
- A revived health-food clerk becomes an accidental rebel in a bizarre future where technology has replaced intimacy and authoritarianism rules by absurdity.
- What is Sleeper like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Sleeper as breakneck, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Sleeper violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Sleeper.
- What did critics think of Sleeper?
- Critics broadly praise the film as a fast, sustained, and stylish fusion of madcap slapstick, futurist satire, and one-liner comedy.
- Which films are like Sleeper?
- Films with a similar feel include Bananas, Brazil, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Modern Times.
- How long is Sleeper?
- Sleeper runs 87 minutes.
