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Sleepless City

Play trailer Poster for Sleepless City 2025 1h 37m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 13 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
Toni, a 15-year-old Roma boy, lives in Europe's largest illegal settlement, on Madrid's outskirts. Proud to belong to his family of scrap dealers, he follows his grandfather everywhere. But demolitions edge closer to their plot, and his grandfather refuses to leave, no matter the sacrifice. On dark nights without electricity, as the legends of his childhood come alive, Toni must choose: face an uncertain future or hold on to a vanishing world.

Critics Reviews

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Adam Solomons IndieWire 05/20/2025
B+
The bulldozers will continue to rid Europe’s great cities of the little-known Roma neighborhoods on their outskirts, but films like “Sleepless City” will help them be remembered for years to come. Go to Full Review
Carlos Boyero El Pais (Spain) Nov 21
I understand that the sociological values ​​highlighted in some documentaries and films are fundamental for certain viewers... I feel distant and not at all moved by this very testimony. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Randy Meeks Espinof Nov 21
4/5
...if you give it the attention it demands, it will reward you in every scene, every filter, every small disappointment, every forced laugh, every step toward a new life. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Hector A. Gonzalez InSession Film 06/10/2025
B
Galoe treats this story with sheer authenticity and understanding... which lends Sleepless City the honesty and sincerity needed to move the viewer without the need for over-dramatization. Go to Full Review
Ruben Peralta Rigaud Cocalecas 06/04/2025
One of the year's great surprises. Not only for its testimonial value and emotional impact, but because it represents a form of filmmaking that is on the verge of extinction: a film that observes, that questions, that listens. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Àngel Quintana Caimán Cuadernos de Cine 06/04/2025
Attempts to understand what happens when the future is transformed, when in a world without dreams something is left behind and when human relationships can be modified. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
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Movie Info

Synopsis Toni, a 15-year-old Roma boy, lives in Europe's largest illegal settlement, on Madrid's outskirts. Proud to belong to his family of scrap dealers, he follows his grandfather everywhere. But demolitions edge closer to their plot, and his grandfather refuses to leave, no matter the sacrifice. On dark nights without electricity, as the legends of his childhood come alive, Toni must choose: face an uncertain future or hold on to a vanishing world.
Director
Guillermo García López
Producer
Marina García López, Marisa Fernández Armenteros, Manu Calvo, Alex Lafuente, Damien Megherbi, Justin Pechberty, Anne-Dominique Toussaint
Screenwriter
Guillermo García López, Víctor Alonso-Berbel
Production Co
Sintagma, Buena Pinta Media, Encanta Films, BTeam Prods, Tournellovision, Les Valseurs
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Spanish
Runtime
1h 37m