SOMNIUM (2024)

4 stars

Lightbulb Film Distribution. Digital. 8th September

Gemma (Chloë Levine) has very little money and has packed her suitcase. Like lots of small town girls she is heading to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of being an actress in Hollywood. Trawling round the talent agencies she has zero luck in getting anything.

Getting desperate, and running out of funds, she sees a door with Somnium on it and a ‘Now Hiring’ sign – she goes in and manages to get an interview with Dr Schaffer (Gillian White). The job has been hard to fill — long hours, all over nights, but Gemma is used to night shifts from working at her Mum and Dad’s diner. She will be a ‘sleep sitter’ – keeping an eye on those folks that are using the facility, plus it leaves her free in the afternoon for auditions.

Gemma is shown round by Noah (Will Peltz) who is the lead dream designer (whatever that might be). The clients are asleep in pods, over a six week period. They are fed images and sounds which supposedly become embedded in their brains and help them to manifest their dreams and be successful. Several high profile and famous people have used this questionable science. Noah shows Gemma how he creates the dreams and the fact he could even incorporate her into the visions he makes, and that would help her career chances – as they get producers and directors using the service.

She keeps plugging away at trying to get parts as the months tick away and continues to work at Somnium. Then one night a distraught patient is brought in – to be put on Cloud 9, an experimental procedure, which involves an accelerated dream program. There is also talk of patient 221. What is going on – is it something more sinister? What is Noah up to one night when Gemma notices him on the cameras acting strangely? Who is the mysterious blond haired Brooks (Johnathan Schaech), who Gemma meets one evening and offers to help her?

Then at a party she has gone to with Brooks, she meets someone who went to the dream lab years ago and has the tattoo 221…

This is a slow paced but compelling science fiction puzzler written and directed by Rachael Cain. Low key but building slowly but surely – there is a mystery at play here. Levine is believable in the lead, as she tries to discover what is really going on where she is working… unfortunately it doesn’t quite hang together in the end.

Steve Kirkham