The Edge of Sleep (TV series)

The Edge of Sleep is an American psychological thriller television miniseries written by Jake Emanuel and Willie Block and directed by Corey Adams, based on the podcast and novel of the same name. Consisting of six episodes, it premiered on October 15, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video.

Premise

Dave Torres, a night watchman, finishes his shift and is horrified to discover that everyone who went to sleep the previous night has died of unknown causes. He must navigate the troubling hallucinations he has had since childhood in order to solve the mystery and figure out what happened to them.

Cast and characters

Main

Mark Fischbach as Dave Torres, a night security guard who has experienced night terrors and hallucinations as a product of parasomnia since his childhood.
- Connor Kendall plays a young Dave in flashbacks.
Lio Tipton as Katie Dowd, Dave's ex-girlfriend and a recovering drug addict.
Franz Drameh as Matteo León, Dave's coworker and fellow security guard, as well as a United States Air Force veteran.
Eve Harlow as Linda Russo, a nurse at Santa Mira hospital. She is also a former employee of the pharmaceutical company Cynagen.

Recurring

Lisa Durupt as Tracey Torres, Dave's mother who, is featured repeatedly in flashbacks showing her attempts to get Dave's sleep trauma diagnosed professionally.
Carlo Rota as Dr. Luis Castaneda, a somnologist who specializes in dream studies. He is featured in flashbacks treating Dave Torres as a child.
Luis Javier as Safet, the leader of the enigmatic "Dream People" that Dave has visions of.
Patti Allan as Ruth Nelson, an elderly patient with terminal cancer at Santa Mira hospital.
Marci T. House as Britney Woods, a fellow nurse at Santa Mira Hospital.

Guests

Trezzo Mahoro as Connor, an acquaintance of Dave's who attends a party the night of the mass nocturnal death.
Braden Overwater as Gus, Connor's friend.
Danny Dworkis as Dr. Jack Gordon, a doctor at Santa Mira Hospital.
Zinaid Memišević as Vadim. Memišević passed away before the series aired.

Development

Background

The Edge of Sleep originated as a podcast produced by QCode and written by Jake Emanuel and Willie Block. It aired in 2019 and featured Mark Fischbach as the main character, Dave Torres.

Production

In 2021, QCode made an agreement with New Regency to adapt The Edge of Sleep into a television series, with Fischbach reprising his original role. The show was filmed in Vancouver in 2021 over the span of a month, although talk of its release would not be reported until 2023 by Deadline Hollywood. The series was shopped to numerous broadcasters and streaming platforms, all of which declined to pick it up until it was approved for release on Amazon Prime via Prime Video Direct.

Release

On September 30, 2024, Fischbach announced on his YouTube channel in a video titled The Plan that the show would be released on October 18, 2024, although he could not reveal which streaming platform it would be available on. On October 15, 2024, the show was released early on Amazon Prime Video, while its marketing was still set to roll out on the 18th. Since its release, the series has broken into Prime Video's Top 10, and was hovering around No. 6 or 7 through the weekend of its release.