IN DREAMS

Last night I watched Neil Jordan's The Butcher Boy and so tonight I decided to watch his follow up film; In Dreams. It's a different type of film but also deals with mental illness. I've seen this movie several times and it still makes little sense... but it makes little sense in a David Lynch sort of way. To compare the film would be to suggest that it's a cross between Jacobs Ladder and Twin Peaks. Annette Bening plays a woman who has had visions her entire life. She has always assumed they were of past events but when she sees her own daughter led astray and murdered, she comes to realise that they have been premonitions the whole time. As the story progresses she slips deeper into psychosis where reality and dilution are blurred. Many people have faulted this movie for being too convoluted and incoherent (which is true) but those factors work in it's favour in my opinion. The film is visually brilliant. The colour schemes are amazing and the set design is almost fairytale. Robert Downey Jr plays the child killer with whom Bening's character becomes psychically connected with. Is he is figment of her imagination? Is she schizophrenic or is there a real connection with a real killer? I am sure there are clues hidden throughout the film and the richly textured design would suggest this, but I am still trying to piece it together after several viewings. I love that it confuses me and challenges me... In Dreams is either a brilliant psychological horror film or a piece of shit. Few films blur that line. LOL

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