Somnium (directed and written by Racheal Cain in her feature length directorial debut) is a sci-fi horror film that creates a dream-like feel to its world. Featuring a likeable protagonist in the form of a small town girl trying to make it big in L.A, and horror that keeps itself just at the edges of the story, this became far more interesting than I initially expected it to be.
After a painful breakup, wannabe actress Gemma (Chloë Levine - Depraved) has headed to L.A with dreams of making it big. Of course, things don't go that easily and needing a job she finds one at Somnium - an experimental sleep clinic that states it is able to create people's dreams for them. There are some grey areas with the treatment, especially with it also being used to permanently change the personalities of the mentally unwell. Outside of her job, Gemma tries to get over her reserved nature to make contacts within the film world, but increasing hallucinations of a monstrous creature, as well as vivid memories of her time with her ex-partner threaten to overwhelm the woman.
I had a feeling of what was really going on in Somnium almost from the start, but I appreciated that it is never made explicitly clear to the viewer what is truly going on. With Gemma you have a relatable and meek lead, someone whose small town naivety has you caring for her character. Being quite quiet, it is down to her frequent flashbacks of her time back in her hometown where her character is revealed. The film has her on a passage of discovering herself and the type of person she can become. This mirrors the aims of Somnium, a place where people's dreams are altered to allow them to become the person they always wanted themselves to be. Of course that might spell out where the movie might go, but instead the idea that it is possible things are not exactly as they are presented to the viewer was interesting, lending the film a dream-like atmosphere. There were plenty of side characters, but L.A is presented as a cold uncaring place, so Gemma remains feeling eternally isolated. Key characters include ex-boyfriend Hunter (Peter Vack), who was the catalyst for her voyage, and Brooks (Johnathon Scaech - Day of the Dead: Bloodline), a mysterious talent scout who insists he sees something special in Gemma.
The horror is always on the fringes of the picture, with sparse moments that increase over the runtime of the ninety five minute film. These moments mostly come in the form of a creature bathed in darkness who appears to Gemma, but who no one else is able to see. Special effects are mostly used sparsely, but there was one neat dream sequence that had buildings dissolving and reforming in an indie Inception type of way.
The director stated her aims for this film were to make "...a scary movie about facing fears", inspired by her own real life experiences which saw her mirroring the path of her protagonist by moving to L.A after a painful break-up. The best movies have important life lessons, and while this doesn't set it's sights too high, it made for a story that had a clear message.
Somnium is a horror that blends a heavy mix of drama with a slight feel of unease and suggestion. I liked how the story was left up to viewers to decide on what was really going on, and I thought the character of Gemma was one who was very easy to root for. Somnium had its world premiere at the 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival on Saturday June 22nd.
SCORE:
No comments:
Post a Comment