And now a few thoughts about the film itself.
Hallman's approach in Sensoria is subtlety. You see it in his direction with minimal camera movement, you hear it in the musical score and how the soundscape of the building's hallways, stairwells and thin walls control sound. This last part is brilliant because it allows the apartment building to be as much a character in the film as anyone else is.
And despite the small cast Sensoria is ripe with memorable characters who also live in the building. By comparison Caroline comes across as simply plain. And there is purpose in that as Caroline is coming out of a relationship and struggling with a loss of her own. She looks fragile and delicate. She has to come across as one who is recovering from losses of this kind.
Hallman starts his film with a quote from H.P. Lovecraft's The Tomb, "Men of greater intellect know that there is no sharp distinction between the real and unreal". The line between what is real and unreal will blur in Hallman's film by the end and his message about loneliness and to what lengths one goes to overcome it will come to a mysterious end. What is someone willing to do to fill a void in their life?
Hallman, in an enviable position, exercised his creative freedom to make a film that pays homage to chiller films from his past. Polanski's Repulsion and Michael Winner's The Sentinel come to mind when thinking about what could be influences on Hallman's picture.
Someone looking for an outright scary film will not find it here. That is not Hallman's goal. When he does employ scary acts they are often subdued and lean very much towards the creepy factor on the scare spectrum. Sensoria gnaws at your nerves and keeps you second guessing not only what is real but when those creepy scares are coming next.