Film Review – Dreams

In 2023, writer/director Michel Franco created one of the best films of the year in “Memory.” It was a haunting look at relationships and secrets, with the helmer creating tension and unusual tenderness in a strange central relationship, gifting stars Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard room to explore their characters and find interesting behaviors along the way. Chastain reunites with Franco for “Dreams,” which is also a study of human interaction and shadowed pasts, returning the actress and the filmmaker to a central crisis of odd devotion. “Dreams” isn’t nearly as engrossing as “Memory,” with Franco heading into Michael Haneke territory with the material, going slow-burn with this picture, which intends to be a disturbing study of power plays in a relationship between a Mexican dancer and his American lover. It’s not an extreme viewing experience, and not much of a dramatic one either, finding the material bordering on ridiculousness at times as the production searches for potency. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com