Dreams are a tricky thing. We spend our lives in pursuit of them, desperate to grab onto something that we may not even quite understand. Our lives are spent defining not just ourselves, but our dreams, but on the way to those discoveries we can lose our way and end up in places we’d never dreamed.
SOMNIUM posits a What If, asking – what if you could be programmed to pursue your dreams? Would putting your absolute trust in someone you don’t know be worth that risk?
SOMNIUM is the story of a young southern woman trying to settle into a new life in Los Angeles. Drawn to the city by her pursuit of a career in acting, Gemma is feeling the pain of being away from her friends, and boyfriend. She had hoped her journey west would make her recent ex want to come with her, but he had a different path he wanted to pursue, and she has been struggling with the reality of that. In need of a job to make ends meet while she pursues acting, she happens upon Somnium, a facility that offers people the opportunity to take a step toward their dreams. Somnium gives clients the opportunity to join a sleep program that will imbue their dreams with images and messages that will help move forward in their lives and give them the push to take those dreams into their own hands. This job seems like a perfect opportunity to be able to audition for acting jobs in the day, and make money in the night. She will work third shift, watching over the sleepers. What she doesn’t anticipate is that there may be something mysterious lurking in the halls of the facility, and that there may be something dark going on behind closed doors that she cannot imagine.
The film stands between science fiction and horror, giving the viewer a growing unease as we become attached to Gemma, and her struggle to re-make herself. Somnium seems like a business that is just out of reach of possibility, but not very far. This isn’t far-fetched sci-fi, but believable, and real. That it seems so dangerous, gives it even more of an air of realism. We trust so many things like this, to better ourselves, to people we barely know, or don’t know at all.
The film features very good acting, with a really great turn by actress Choe Levine, as Gemma. She is vulnerable, scared, and desperate to find herself in LA, and you feel for the things she goes through. The film is interesting in that it opens a door that you expect to lead into darkness, but which never does. It was a nice change, and kept me unsure what to expect.
The film is very well shot, and made, and features really good music that pairs well with the story. The filmmakers play with our expectations, and when the film takes a turn toward horror, the scares are real, and earned.
My complaint about the film is that things tie up very neatly at the end, with a lot of things happening in the last ten minutes, and left me with questions that there were no answers for.
None of that is to say that this isn’t a very good, very well made, and very interesting movie. This is a good film, with its own vibe, great acting, and a fascinating story. Anchored by a great lead performance, this is a movie fans of creepy sci-fi will want to check out.
SOMNIUM will be released in the UK & Ireland from 8th September.
3.75 out of 5
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