Amanda is a young woman living alone in her apartment, her safe little bubble, where she goes about her monotonous days. She is unemployed, depressed and cannot sleep alone. Each night she fills her lonely bed with a steady stream of lovers with the hope of comfort, intimacy and a peaceful sleep. It is only on these nights that she falls sound asleep.
Her day is interrupted when she receives a phone call from her grandmother’s neighbour. A visit reveals that her alcoholic grandmother is a mess, living in the squalor of empty bottles and remnants of the past. Suddenly forced to care for her grandmother, Amanda’s once docile world changes instantly. Her grandmother, a former screen siren, suffers from dementia. Dolores flickers in and out often reliving her glory days acting the beautiful prima donna captured in the body of an old woman.
At first their time together is fiery as both lives spiral out of their own control. Amanda and Dolores grow close developing a deeper understanding of the other. They find a friendship within ordinary tasks such as swimming or putting on makeup. During her fleeting lucid states Dolores understands the struggles of her granddaughter and an empathetic connection evolves.
She Doesn't Want to Sleep Alone is a touching, character driven film, the quiet achiever of the Spanish Film Festival drawn from the Director’s own family experiences. In her debut film Natalia Beristáin explores her own relationship with her grandmother, “Where does age lie; in the skin or within the heart?”
