Criminal psychologist Kate Fuller is assigned to the murder of a man who has seemingly been strangled in his sleep by his wife and the only witness is their eight-year-old daughter, Sophie. As Kate digs into the mystery of an ancient demon which kills people in their sleep, she experiences the same petrifying symptoms as all previous victims and spirals through a chilling nightmare to save herself and Sophie before she dares fall asleep again.
I'm a fan of Olga Kurylenko. I first saw her in _Hitman_ (and she's a big part of why I like that movie) then a few more times before watching her steal the show in _Centurion_. So when I heard that there was going to be a Kurylenko-led horror movie in 2018 I was on board. Then it turned out Craig Conway was in it too! That cemented it for me, there was no way I was gonna miss _Mara_.
And even though they're both good in this, I probably should have been paying less attention to the fact that I like two of the actors in this movie, and more attention to something like, say, the plot synopsis, because _Mara_ is just one in a recent slew of practically identical (and never very good) horror movies about sleep paralysis. Maybe it's a touch more competently made than most of the others, but it's still as banal as any of them.
_Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._
