It stars Christian Bale as the title character, a machinist struggling with paranoia and delusion after being unable to sleep for an entire year.

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, John Sharian, and Michael Ironside appear in supporting roles.

The film drew attention due to Bale's commitment, having lost 62 pounds (28 kg) in preparation for his role.

Trevor seems to find comfort in the arms of Stevie, a prostitute with genuine affection for him, and with Maria, a waitress at an airport diner he frequents.

He is haunted by brief flashes of recurring imagery, and things such as his car cigarette lighter take on a menacing air.

A dark, viscous liquid begins trickling out of the freezer, coating the refrigerator door with streaks of what appears to be blood.

After several attempts to confront Ivan, Trevor tries to trace his license plate, but runs out of gas while in pursuit of his car.

He flees the police and goes to Stevie, who bathes and clothes him, but he is disturbed by the discovery of the photo of Ivan and Reynolds framed in her home.

Trevor takes a rolled-up carpet containing Ivan's body to the ocean to dispose of it, only for the rug to unroll as he does so and reveal nothing inside.

Trevor fled the scene in his car, and the resulting guilt became the root of his insomnia, emaciation and repressed memories.

According to a biography of Bale written by his former assistant, this daily diet consisted of "water, an apple and one cup of coffee per day, with the occasional whiskey" (approximately 55–260 calories).

[7] At the end of filming he was left with just six weeks to regain enough mass to be ready for the screen test for his role in Batman Begins, which he achieved through weightlifting and binging on pizzas and ice cream.

[9] Other Nine Inch Nails tributes include early press articles describing Reznik as experiencing a "downward spiral".

The critical consensus states: "Brad Anderson's dark psychological thriller about a sleepless factory worker is elevated by Christian Bale's astonishingly committed performance.