As my catathrenia started when ending a toxic relationship and the cause couldn't be determined medically, this documentary explores the hypothesis that the answer may lie in the unseen realm.
This film follows the journey of Indonesian director Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto, after she discovers and records a frequent “moaning” sound during her sleep, medically known as catathrenia. To this date, the scientific world has not been able to identify its cause.
When her doctor asks how long the phenomenon has been going on, the narrative moves back in time, as the director realizes that the sound first appeared during her toxic relationship with her ex-partner. Her decision to end the relationship came from signs she believed in, as well as archived conversations with her father. However, even after two years of separation, catathrenia continued to haunt Nirmala’s sleep.
The film then documents her journey to prove a hypothesis: that catathrenia symptoms in women may be related to lingering trauma from violence.
While science lacks an answer, the film also explores this phenomenon through psychoanalytic and spiritual perspectives. The director meets other Indonesian women experiencing similar sleep disorders and presents their stories and backgrounds as a comparative study.
At the end, the film features a collection of women’s voices in the archipelago expressing their experiences of injustice, grievances and sacrifices through various forms of verbal metaphor: lamentations, prayers, poetry, and songs.
