State Like Sleep is a film about the basic need for human connection and love The title refers not only to a doctor s inadequate yet poetic description of what it s like to be in a coma, but also to the psychological state one can enter when dealing with trauma emotionally closed off but acutely conscious, a blank exterior housing a rich interior life The story enables this surreal state by pairing spiritual damage with awkward humor, thrill with mystery, and sexual spectacle with the sublime State Like Sleep finds love and hope in unexpected places as it travels through the ups and downs of mourning and loss